LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



§|aju.- iopijrigP !f n, 

Shelf..Ul3 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



Jesus the Good Shepherd. 



. BY THE 

RIGHT REV. L: DE GOESBRIAND, D.D., 

ll 

Bishof of Burlington, 

Authxyr of " Christ on the Altar," "Labors of the Apostles," 
"History of Confession" Etc, 






i 



NEW YORK, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO : 

BEN^IOER BROTHERS, 

Printers to the Holy Apostolic See. 



1895. 



I 



r> \ 






. - 



Copyright, 1894, 

BY 

BENZIGER BROTHERS. 



The L 



1 






CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTION. 

MAKING JESUS CHRIST KNOWN. 



PAGE 



u I am the Good Shepherd. Other sheep I have 
that are not of this fold " (John x. 11, 16) 9 

CHAPTER I. 

HOW COULD JESUS CHRIST CALL HIMSELF THE TRUE 
SHEPHERD ? 

He was sent to the Men of His Day. — He taught a 
Heavenly Doctrine. — He sought out the Lost 
Sheep. — He suffered and died for Men 11 

CHAPTER II. 

GOD WILL HAVE MEN TO BE GOVERNED BY MEN. 

Heads of Families and Communities. — High -Priests 
under the Old Law. — Promise of a Ruler to come, 
who was to be Pontiff and Victim 14 



4 Contents. 

CHAPTER III. 

PROMISE OP THE MESSIAS. 

PAGE 

The Messias was to be the Saviour, the Ruler in whom 
all Generations were to be blessed. — He was to 
be the High-Priest of the Most High God 17 

CHAPTER IV. 

JESUS CHRIST IS THE RULER OR SHEPHERD 
PROMISED. 

The Prophecies and the Gospel Narrative compared. 25 
CHAPTER V. 

JESUS CHRIST THE SHEPHERD OF OUR SOULS. 

His Goodness. — His Heavenly Doctrine Food for 
our Minds and Nourishment for our Souls. — Prom- 
ise of Heaven. — The Word Incarnate 30 

CHAPTER VI. 

ONLY ONE SHEPHERD. 

Announced by the Prophets, Expected by the Jews, 
Declared by Gabriel, Zachary, and holy Simeon. 43 

CHAPTER VII. 

HOW CAN JESUS CHRIST, THE GOOD SHEPHERD, 
TAKE CARE OF HIS FLOCK ? 

The Apostles taught His Doctrine. — Their Success- 
ors inherit their Promises , 46 



Contents. 5 

CHAPTER VIII. 

HOW SHALL WE FIND THE SHEPHERDS SENT BY 
THE GOOD SHEPHERD ? 

PAGE 

They are not Individuals, interpreting the Bible for 
Themselves. — They are not a Body of Bishops. . . . 51 

CHAPTER IX. 

OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST HAS A VICAR ON EARTH. 

St. Peter's Life. — Memorials of St. Peter in Rome. 
— Recognized as the Vicar of Christ 56 

CHAPTER X. 

peter's successors. — their power and pre- 
rogatives. 

Institution of the Papacy. — Supremacy of Honor 
and Jurisdiction. — Papal Infallibility 79 

CHAPTER XI. 

THE POPE IS NOT THE GOOD SHEPHERD. — JESUS 
CHRIST IS THE GOOD SHEPHERD. 

St. Peter himself and the Popes teach this 83 

CHAPTER XII. 

JESUS CHRIST IS MY SHEPHERD. 

St. Paul. — The Magnificat. — "Dominus regit me, et 
nihil mihi deerit" , 88 



6 Contents. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE YOUNG. 

PAGE 

The Young loved by Jesus Christ. — Care of the 
Church for the Young 91 

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE WORLD. 

"Dominator Terra." — The Vatican Council. — Psalm 
Ixxi. — " Dominabitur a mari ad mare" 96 

CHAPTER XV. 

THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE DIOCESE. 

The Pope governs the World, Bishops a Diocese. — 
Consecration of a Bishop. — Origin, Nature, and 
Duties of the Bishop's Office 100 

CHAPTER XVI. 

THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE DIOCESE, CON- 
TINUED. 

The Episcopal Throne. — The Sacrament of Confir- 
mation. — Ordination of Priests. — Episcopal Visita- 
tions .. .. 116 

CHAPTER XVII. 

THE GOOD SHEPHERD IN THE PARISH. 

The Parish Priest. — Duties of the People toward 
him 124 



Contents. ? 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

"IAM WITH YOU." 

PAGE 

How the Good Shepherd continues with His Flock 
to the End of the World 135 

APPENDIX I. 

Detailed Account of the Martyrdom and Death of St. 
Peter, sent by St. Linus, his First Successor, to 
the Churches of the East 143 

APPENDIX II. 

The Relics of St. Peter in the Cathedral of Burling- 
ton, Vt 161 

Translation of the Relics 168 

Account of the Celebration on August 5, 1894 174 

Prayers to St. Peter 189 

Hymn to St. Peter ... 191 



JESUS THE GOOD SHEPHERD. 



INTKODUCTIOK 

MAKING JESUS CHRIST KNOWN. 

" I am the Good Shepherd. Other sheep I have that 
are not of this fold ' ' (John x. 11, 16). 

Nearly two thousand years have elapsed since 
these remarkable words were pronounced. He 
who spoke them was and is now named Jesus. 
This is a name most sweet, most dear and sacred 
to millions of people. Pious mothers teach their 
infants to lisp it ; children love this name and 
everything which reminds them of one who ap- 
peared on earth as one of themselves. The name 
Jesus is dear to the poor, for He loved the poor, 
and lived with them ; the name Jesus is held in 
grateful veneration by laboring men — the fisher- 
men, the carpenters, the tillers of the soil — for He 
was as one of them, and He chose His apostles from 
among them ; the name Jesus is the comfort of 
the sick, whom He was wont to visit ; but this 
name is pre-eminently gratefully venerated by all 



10 Making Jesus Christ Known. 

who are acquainted with the object of His life 
and labors. 

All that has been done by Him whose name is 
Jesus, all that He taught, is rehearsed every day 
in thousands of pulpits, related in books innu- 
merable, inscribed on monuments of all kinds. 

Many there are, nevertheless, who are ignorant 
of the nature of Jesus Christ, and especially of 
the doctrine which He taught and the precepts 
which He gave to the world. 

This ignorance, this state of doubt which makes 
them miserable, is not always due to their fault, 
for they are ready to embrace the truth wher 
ever they find it. They put me in mind of holy 
Tobias, who had lost the use of his sight. To 
him Raphael had said in saluting him : " Joy be 
to thee always. And Tobias said, What manner 
of joy shall be to me who sit in darkness and see 
not the light of heaven V 9 (Tobias v. 11, 12.) 
God grant that I may be to these as another 
guiding angel, till I have led them to the feet of 
Him who is in reality their shepherd, although 
they see Him not. He who said " I am the true 
Shepherd" is our shepherd also, although He lived 
on earth so many thousand years before our 
day. 



CHAPTER I. 

HOW COULD JESUS CHRIST CALL HIMSELF 
THE TRUE SHEPHERD ? 

He was sent to the Men of His Day. — He taught a Heav- 
enly Doctrine. — He sought out the Lost Sheep. — 
He suffered and died for Men. 

Let us liere recall to our minds what we have 
frequently admired not only in books, but also 
in paintings and statuary. We represent to our- 
selves a man meek, modest in appearance, in the 
midst of a family of twelve disciples, who con- 
stantly follow Him. Toward these He certainly 
acted the part of a good shepherd, for He had 
called them by name to follow Him. He knew 
every one of them. He provided for their wants 
from a common purse ; He watched over them 
while they slept, protected them in the storm, 
taught them privately the secrets of the kingdom 
of heaven ; would not permit them to suffer harm 
while He gave Himself up into the hands of His 
enemies. But He was also a good shepherd to all 
others. He had compassion on His followers 
when they were hungry, and provided them with 



12 Jesus Called Himself the True Shepherd. 

food, which He multiplied miraculously. He ate 
with sinners and publicans that He might reclaim 
them. During the day He would visit every city 
and hamlet, speaking to them concerning the 
kingdom of God. Wherever He was — on moun- 
tains, in valleys, on the shore of the lake of Tibe- 
rias — you might see Him surrounded by thousands 
of people, who looked upon Him as a prophet, 
while He considered them as His children. He 
was accessible to all, invited all to come to Him, 
because He was meek and humble of heart ; and 
after healing the sick, after suffering hunger and 
fatigue during the day for the love of men, He 
would spend the night in prayer on a mountain or 
in a lonely place. But the doctrine which He 
taught, the spiritual food which He put before 
their minds, was much more nourishing than the 
loaves which He multiplied for them. He had 
come to teach them about the end for which they 
were created, and about the means to be happy 
forever in a world to come. He had come to 
save all, for God willeth none to perish, and He 
went after the lost sheep, such as Magdalen and 
the woman of Samaria ; nay, He declared that He 
would go to Jerusalem and be crucified there after 
many torments, for " the good shepherd giveth his 
life for his sheep." Jesus did indeed suffer un- 
heard-of torments, and actually died on the cross ; 



Jesus Called Himself the True Shepherd. 13 

but if He died, it was quite voluntarily, for He 
" had power to give up His soul and to take it up 
again.' 3 His solemn declaration was that He had 
been sent by the Father, " that the world might be 
saved by Him." Now after His public life of 
three years' duration, after His death and His res- 
urrection, many of those who had witnessed His 
miracles and beheld Him living after His death 
believed in Him and in His doctrine ; for at that 
time the Jewish nation, and we may say all the 
nations of the East, were expecting a ruler who 
would rule the whole world. 



CHAPTEE II. 

GOD WILL HAVE MEN TO* BE GOVERNED BY 
MEN. 

Heads of Families and Communities, — High- Priests 
under the Old Law.- — Promise of a Ruler to come, 
who was to be Pontiff and Victim. 

It has always been the conduct of God's prov- 
idence toward men to have them governed by 
men, and not by angels, Heads of families w^ere 
in early days the pastors and priests of individual 
families, and when they became more numerous 
they formed themselves into communities and 
had rulers appointed over them, who were often 
styled the pastors or shepherds of their people. 
The subjects or individual members of those 
communities understood that they owed rever- 
ence and obedience to their rulers as being the 
representatives of Almighty God over them, just 
as children feel themselves in duty bound to 
obey, venerate, and love their parents. 

When the Almighty chose to Himself a people 
to preserve the knowledge of Himself among 
men, He willed to be called their pastor, but ex- 

14 



Men to he Governed hy Men. 15 

ercised His power and providence over tliem 
through the ministry of men, and not of angels. 
" Thou hast conducted Thy people like sheep by 
the hand of Moses and Aaron" (Ps. lxxvi. 21), and 
the devout Israelites loved to acknowledge and 
call upon Him as their kind Shepherd. " Give 
ear, O Thou that rulest Israel ; Thou that leadest 
Joseph like a sheep'' (Ps. Ixxix. 2). "Who does 
not remember the kind providence of God toward 
His people ? He freed them from the hard ser- 
vitude of Egypt, nourished them with a heavenly 
bread from heaven in the desert, introduced them 
in a land flowing with milk and honey, never 
failing to make them triumph over their enemies, 
giving fruitfuluess to their lands whenever they 
were obedient to His voice. 

He left them not in darkness about matters 
concerning His law and His worship. Methinks 
I hear Him proclaim on Sinai those admirable ten 
commandments, which may be summed up in 
two words : Love the Lord thy God above all 
things, and thy neighbor as thyself for the love of 
God. He had not left the interpretation of the 
Decalogue, to the whim or judgment of each indi- 
vidual, but He had invested the high-priest with 
supreme authority, nay, with infallibility in mat- 
ters of religion. JSTot only was the high-priest the 
interpreter of the law of God, but he was also the 



16 Men to be Governed by Men. 

leader in acts of public worship. To him it be- 
longed to preside over the sacrifices, to direct the 
priests and levites in their functions. This pa- 
ternal government of God over His people was 
to the true children of Israel a source of great 
comfort, and they might well exclaim with 
David, " The Lord ruleth me, and I shall want 
nothing ; He hath set me in a place of pasture" 
(Ps. xxii. 1, 2). 

The Lord of heaven and earth, the God of 
Israel, never failed to act toward His people the 
part of a tender, vigilant shepherd. He ever 
listened to their prayers, ever caused them to 
triumph over their enemies when they were con- 
verted to Him ; nay, during their captivities at 
JSTinive and Babylon, He would send them proph- 
ets to comfort them, and announce to them the 
end of their trials ; but they were a stiff-necked 
people ; they frequently forgot God, their creator, 
to adore idols made be human hands ; their priests 
themselves neglected the service of God and the 
care of their flocks. " And My sheep," said the 
Lord, " were scattered because there was no shep- 
herd ; and they became the prey .of all the 
beasts of the field, and were scattered" (Ezech. 
xxxiv. 5). 



CHAPTEE III. 

PROMISE OF THE MESSIAS. 

The Messiah was to be the Saviour, the Ruler in whom 
all Generations were to be blessed. — He was to be 
the High-Priest of the Most High God, 

A time came when the Jews ceased to be the 
people of God : they were rejected by Him on 
account of their repeated infidelities. But they 
had prepared the way for and were to be re- 
placed by another chosen people, which was to 
exist to the end of time and to be known in all 
parts of the world. This new chosen people was 
to be governed by a ruler superior to Moses, who 
had been announced and expected from the be- 
ginning of the world. 

The Messias, the Saviour, the Ruler in whom all 
generations were to be blessed, was to come out 
of the race of Abraham of the tribe of Juda, 
at a time when the kingdom of Juda should 
have passed away. He was to be born of a virgin 
in a city called Bethlehem. He was to be great — 
greater than all the prophets, greater than any 
other being on earth ; nay, His name was to be Em 

17 



18 Promise of the Messias. 

manuel, which means God with us, one equal to 
God. " Behold, I Myself will seek My sheep and 
will visit them as the shepherd visiteth his flock" 
(Ezech. xxxiv. 11, 12). " Behold, the Lord shall 
come to save the nation, and the Lord shall make 
the glory of His voice to be heard in the joy of 
your heart" (Is.). 

Of this ruler it had been said in prophecy : 
" Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten 
Thee." And again, " I will be to Him a Father, and 
He shall be to me a Son." All the angels of God 
were commanded to adore Him. " Thy throne, 
O God, is forever and ever ; the sceptre of Thy 
kingdom is a sceptre of right. Thou, O Lord, in 
the beginning didst found the earth, and the heav- 
ens are works of Thine hands. They shall perish, 
but Thou shalt remain ; and they shall all grow 
old as a garment ; as a vesture Thou shalt change 
them, and they shall be changed ; but Thou art the 
selfsame, and Thy years shall not fail" (Heb. i. 12). 

This expected Messias was to be a ruler. " And 
Thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, art a little one among 
the thousands of Juda ; out of thee shall He come 
forth unto me that is to be the Ruler in Israel : 
and His going forth is from the beginning, from 
the days of eternity" (Mich. v. 2). 

Isaias had said before Micheas : " Send forth, O 
Lord, the lamb, the ruler of the earth, from Petra 



Promise of the Messias. 19 

of the desert to the mount of the daughter of 
Sion (Is. xvi. 1). This promised Ruler, this Shep- 
herd, the Desired of all nations, was by David 
announced as one who would " rule from sea to 
sea, and from the river unto the ends of the 
earth ; . . . and all kings of the earth shall adore 
Him, all nations shall serve Him, . . . and in Him 
shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed ; all 
nations shall magnify Him" (Ps. lxxi.). 

The Christ w T as to be the light of the Gentiles. 
" Behold I have given Thee to be the light of the 
Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation, even 
to the farthest parts of the earth" (Is. xlix. 6). 

The same prophet describes in the following 
language the wonderful effects of the teachings 
of the Redeemer . 

" Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem : for thy 
light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen 
upon thee. 

" For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and 
a mist the people : but the Lord shall arise upon 
thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. 

" And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light, 
and kings in the brightness of thy rising. 

i i Lift up thy eyes round about, and see : all 
these are gathered together, they are come to 
thee : thy sons shall come from afar, and thy 
daughters shall rise up at thy side. 



20 Promise of the Messias. 

" Then slialt thou see and abound, and thy 
heart shall wonder and be enlarged, when the 
multitude of the sea shall be converted to thee, 
the strength of the Gentiles shall come to 
thee" (Is. lx.). 

The expected Messias was to be more than 
a teacher, a ruler ; He was to be a pontiff or 
high-priest of the Most High God, called of God 
as Aaron was, but yet higher than Aaron, who 
offered sacrifices of animals ; He was announced 
as a priest of the order of Melchisedech, offering 
bread and wine, whose priesthood would last for- 
ever, offering a clean oblation to God among the 
Gentiles from the rising of the sun to the going 
down (Ps. cix. ; Mai. i.). The Lord had led 
His chosen people like a sheep into the land of 
Chanaan by the hand of Moses and Aaron ; but the 
expected Saviour was to put an end to iniquity 
and to introduce His disciples into that blessed 
abode where the saints of the Old Testament 
knew that they would see their glorified Saviour 
with their own eyes. Yet this great Redeem- 
er, this Teacher, this Ruler, was destined to 
suffer on earth humiliations and sufferings un- 
heard of ; this Pastor was to be struck, so as, if 
possible, to scatter the flock. He was to be nailed 
to a cross and die on it. Such was the prophecy 
of Isaias written many hundred years before 



Promise of the Messias. 21 

the birth of Christ. Let us hear the prophet 
speak. 

" Who hath believed our report ? and to whom 
is the arm of the Lord revealed ? 

" And He shall grow up as a tender plant be- 
fore Him, and as a root out of a thirsty ground : 
there is no beauty in Him, nor comeliness : and 
we have seen Him, and there was no sightliness, 
that we should be desirous of Him. 

" Despised, and the most abject of men, a man 
of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity : and 
His look was as it were hidden and despised, 
whereupon we esteemed Him not. 

" Surely He hath borne our infirmities and 
carried our sorrows : and we have thought Him 
as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and 
afflicted. 

" But He was wounded for our iniquities, He 
was bruised for our sins : the chastisement of our 
peace was upon Him, and by His bruises we are 
healed. 

" All we like sheep have gone astray, every one 
hath turned aside into his own way : and the 
Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us 
all. 

" He was offered because it was His own will, 
and He opened not His mouth : He shall be led as 
a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a 



22 Promise of the Messias. 

lamb before his shearer, and He shall not open His 
mouth. 

" He was taken away from distress, and from 
judgment : who shall declare His generation ? be- 
cause He is cut off out the land of the living : for 
the wickedness of My people have I struck Him. 

" And He shall give the ungodly for His burial, 
and the rich for His death : because He hath done 
no iniquity, neither was there deceit in His mouth. 

" And the Lord was pleased to bruise Him in 
infirmity : if He shall lay down His life for sin, 
He shall see a long-lived seed, and the will of the 
Lord shall be prosperous in His hand. 

" Because His soul hath labored, He shall see 
and be filled : by His knowledge shall this my just 
servant justify many, and He shall bear their in- 
iquities. / 

" Therefore will I distribute to Him very many, 
and He shall divide the spoils of the strong, be- 
cause He hath delivered His soul unto death, and 
was reputed with the wicked : and He hath borne 
the sins of many, and hath prayed for the trans- 
gressors" (Is. liii.). 

The prophets who had announced the suffer- 
ings and death of the Christ had announced also 
that He would rise from the grave. " Lord, Thou 
hast proved me, and known me. Thou hast 
known my sitting down and my rising up" (Ps, 



Promise of the Messias. 23 

cxxxviii. 1, 2). " Therefore my heart lias been 
glad, and my tongue has rejoiced ; moreover my 
flesh also shall rest in hope ; because Thou wilt not 
leave my soul in hell, nor wilt Thou give Thy 
Holy One to see corruption" (Ps. xv. 8, 9). 

These extracts from the psalms and the proph- 
ets were accepted by the Jews as relating to the 
expected Redeemer. There was no man, however, 
among the leaders of the Jewish people whom 
they held in so great veneration as Moses. The 
last recommendations of this great commander to 
the Israelites were that they should ever observe 
the laws and ordinances of God, and be grateful 
to Him, who had done so great things in their 
favor. Tet the most ardent desire of his heart 
was that they should hope in a Redeemer to come, 
of whom he was indeed a prototype, but who 
was to be greater than himself. " The Lord thy 
God will raise up to thee a prophet of thy nation, 
and of thy brethren, like unto me : Him thou shalt 
hear" (Deut. xviii. 15). 

Yery fervent were the desires of the just of the 
Old Law for the appearance of the promised pas- 
tor or ruler who was to free them from their sins ; 
and as the time marked by the prophets for His 
coming drew near, their sighs and supplications 
were offered up with greater fervor. 

" Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and 



24 Promise of the Messias. 

let the clouds rain down the just ; let the earth be 
opened and bud forth a Saviour. Come, O 
Lord, delay not, release the people from their 
sins. O Adonai and ruler of the house of Israel, 
who didst appear unto Moses in the burning 
bush, and gavest him the law on Sinai, come to 
redeem us with an outstretched arm. O Emman- 
uel, our king and our lawgiver, longing of the 
Gentiles, yea and salvation thereof, come to save 
us, O Lord our God" (Is. xlv. 8). 



CHAPTER IY. 

JESUS CHRIST IS THE RULER OR SHEPHERD 
PROMISED. 

The Prophecies and the Gospel Narrative Compared. 

In order to convince himself on this point, the 
reader may simply recall to his mind the narra- 
tive of the Gospel, and compare it with the text 
of the prophecies. It was to a virgin named 
Mary, living in Nazareth, that the archangel was 
sent to announce to her, by order of God, that 
she would miraculously conceive and bring forth 
a son, whose name should be Jesus (Saviour), 
who would be called the Son of the Most High, 
of whose kingdom there would be no end. Mary 
believed : the Holy Ghost came upon her, the 
virtue of the Most High overshadowed her, and 
she conceived a son, of whom St. Elizabeth, filled 
with the Holy Ghost, addressing the woman 
blessed among women, said, Blessed is the fruit of 
thy womb. Six months after the visit of Mary 
to Elizabeth she brought forth her child at Beth- 
lehem ; and thus was fulfilled the prophecy : " Be- 
hold a virgin shall be with child, and bring forth 

25 



26 Jesus Christ the Shepherd Promised. 

a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, 
which, being interpreted, is God with, us." Da- 
vid, the prophet-king, had written in prophecy 
that all the angels would adore the promised Re- 
deemer ; and St. Luke, the Evangelist, tells us 
that after the birth of the son of Mary at Bethle- 
hem, " there were in the same country shepherds, 
watching and keeping the night watches over their 
flock. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood 
by them, and the brightness of God shone round 
about them, and they feared with a great fear. 
And the angel said to them, Fear not ; . . . and 
suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of 
the heavenly army praising God and saying: 
Glory be to God in the highest, and on earth 
peace to men of good will" (Luke ii. 8-14). 

Eight days after this ever-memorable event, 
the infant is carried to Jerusalem to be circum- 
cised ; and while He was yet in the temple " the 
just Simeon enters, led by the spirit ; he takes Him 
in his arms, exclaiming, Now dost Thou dismiss 
Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word in 
peace, because my eyes have seen Thy salvation, 
which Thou hast prepared before the face of all 
peoples, a light to the revelation of the Gentiles 
and the glory of Thy people Israel" (Luke 
ii. 28-32). Zachary, the father of John the 
Baptist, had used the same language when, ad- 



Jesus Christ the Shepherd Promised. 27 

dressing his infant son, lie had exclaimed : " And 
thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the 
Highest ; for thou shalt go before the face of the 
Lord to prepare His ways ; to give knowledge 
of salvation to His people : unto the remission of 
their sins. Through the bowels of the mercy of 
our God, in which the Orient, from on high, hath 
visited us ; to enlighten them that sit in darkness 
and in the shadow of death ; to direct our feet 
into the way of peace" (Luke i. 75-79). Here 
we have Jesus Christ as the light promised to 
Israel. " He was the true light that enlighteneth 
every man coming into this world." He Him- 
self declared that He was the light of the world, 
and the Jews of His day believed in the lan- 
guage of the woman of Samaria, that the Christ 
would teach all things. 

Prophets had foretold of the Christ to come as 
of a king, a chief, or ruler, and it was a common 
belief among the nations of the East, at the time 
that the Son of Mary was born, that a powerful 
king would appear in Judea who would conquer 
and rule the whole world ; hence when the Wise 
Men came to Jerusalem, guided by a star, they in- 
quired, " "Where is he that is born King of the 
Jews ?" But Jesus Christ had not come to found 
a terrestrial kingdom. His kingdom was not 
one of this world ; but He named it the king- 



28 Jesus Christ the Shepherd Promised. 

dom of heaven, and confessed that He was 
king. Like a king, He had ministers — viz., the 
apostles, and St. Peter, His chief representative ; 
like a king, He gave precepts and directions for 
their observation ; but He had no palace, no 
army, claimed no jurisdiction over the subjects of 
surrounding monarchs. His kingdom existed 
within the hearts of men ; it was a type of and a 
preparation for the kingdom of heaven, of which 
saints loved to say, " Oh, how contemptible the 
earth when I look up to heaven !" While striv- 
ing to save His people from slavery, the new King 
of Israel had to contend with a more powerful ene- 
my than Pharao and his hosts ; men were slaves 
of Satan, incapable of breaking their chains asun- 
der and of going to the house of their Father in 
heaven. The sacrifices offered by men, all their 
prayers, united to those of angels, could not atone 
for sin and pay the price of their redemption. 
To be reconciled to God mankind had need of a 
redeemer equal to God Himself. Therefore the 
Son of God came, indued with our nature, and 
He, the Man-God, who sitteth on a throne, adored 
by the multitude of angels, suffered and died vol- 
untarily for our salvation. In Him the prophe- 
cy was fulfilled : " They dug His hands and feet, 
they numbered all His bones" (Ps. xxi. 17, 18). 
One drop of His blood had sufficed for our re- 



Jesus Christ the Shepherd P, omised. 29 

demption ; He slied it all for us on the cross. 
But His sacred body did not see the corruption 
of the grave. He rose up by His own power. 
He went up to heaven. He hath conquered. 



CHAPTER V. 

JESUS CHRIST THE SHEPHERD OF OUR SOULS. 

His Goodness. — His Heavenly Doctrine Food for our 
Minds and Nourishment for our Souls. — Promise of 
Heaven. — The Word Incarnate. 

The Messias who came to rule the world and 
to save mankind, Jesus Christ, is also the shep- 
herd of our souls. He declared and repeated 
it, I am the Good Shepherd, and this, of all 
His titles, seems to be the dearest to the hearts 
of Christians. Millions of voices rise up to 
heaven imploring the protection of the Good 
Shepherd. Jesus, Good Shepherd, have mercy 
on us. Prophets had announced the coming of 
the Messias as a shepherd of His people. " Be- 
hold, I myself will seek My sheep, and will visit 
them, as the shepherd visiteth his flock. . . . 
I will feed them in the most fruitful pastures. 
... I will feed My sheep. ... I will seek 
that which was lost, . . . and I will bind up 
that which was broken, and I will strengthen 
that which was weak " (Ezech. xxxiv.). 

Jesus Christ was not an ordinary shepherd, 

30 



Jesus the Shepherd of Our Souls* 31 

a shepherd of sheep, or a king, pastor of peoples. 
He was the pastor of souls (II. Pet. i.). Now, 
truth is the food of intellectual beings, and the 
whole of His life was spent in teaching the truth 
by word and example. Truly His disciples 
might exclaim, " All we, like sheep, have gone 
astray" (Is. liii. 6). We are sitting in darkness 
and in the shadow of death ; do Thou enlighten 
our minds. What did they know about God, 
about the end for which they were created? 
The pastor of our souls taught men that the 
King of ages, immortal, invisible, is a spirit, one 
in three Persons, who has no beginning, who 
shall have no end, whose power is infinite, who has 
made all things, visible and invisible, who is pres- 
ent in every place, who sees and knows all things. 

He taught that men are created by Him, that 
He created them for the possession of Himself 
in heaven, that they are bound to adore Him and 
serve Him, for He is their Lord, and He will re- 
pay them in eternity according to the works 
performed by them in the body. 

As to the duties of men toward their neigh- 
bors, Jesus Christ declared that they must love 
their neighbors as themselves, treating them as 
they would be treated by them, and not doing 
that which they would not have done to them- 
selves. The souls of men are immortal ; they 



32 Jesus the Shepherd of Our Souls. 

must therefore take more care of tlieir souls than 
of their bodies, for " What does it profit a man 
to gain the whole world and suffer the loss of 
his own soul ? Or what shall a man give in ex- 
change for his soul ? For the Son of Man shall 
come in the glory of His Father with His angels, 
and then will He render to every man according 
to his works" (Mark viii. 36, et seq.). 

The very name pastor or shepherd conveys to 
our minds the idea of one whose chief quality is 
goodness. The shepherd of sheep loves each 
lamb and sheep of his flock ; but who can speak 
worthily of the love of the Good Shepherd f 
He wishes us to love one another as He has loved 
us. He declares that He has loved us as His 
Father has loved Him. 

Here is an example of the wonderful goodness 
of His heart. "Wherever Jesus Christ went He 
was followed by multitudes eager to hear Him, 
or to be healed from their infirmities. We read 
as follows in the sixth chapter of St. Mark, 
verses 33 and following : 

"They [the multitude] saw Jesus and the 
apostles going away, and many knew : and they 
ran flocking thither on foot from all the cities, 
and were there before them. 

" And Jesus going out saw a great multitude : 
and He had compassion on them, because they 



Jesus the Shepherd of Our Souls. 33 

were as sheep not having a shepherd, and He 
began to teach them many things. 

" And when the day was now far spent, His 
disciples came to Him, saying : This is a desert 
place, and the hour is now past : 

" Send them away, that going into the next 
villages and towns, they may buy themselves 
meat to eat. 

" And He answering said to them : Give yon 
them to eat. And they said to Him : Let us go 
and buy bread for two hundred pence, and we 
will give them to eat. 

" And He saith to them : How many loaves 
have you ? go and see. And when they knew, 
they say : Five, and two fishes. 

" And He commanded them that they should 
make them all sit down by companies upon the 
green grass. 

" And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds 
and by fifties. 

" And when He had taken the five loaves and 
the two fishes, looking up to heaven, He blessed, 
and broke the loaves, and gave to His disciples to 
set before them : and the two fishes He divided 
among them all. 

" And they all did eat, and had their fill. 

" And they took up the leavings, twelve full 
baskets of fragments, and of the fishes. 



34 Jesus the Shepherd of Our Souls. 

"And they that did eat were five thousand 
men." 

Think of the widow of Nairn : 

" And it came to pass : afterward that He went 
into a city that is called Nairn : and there went 
with Him His disciples and a great multitude. 

" And when He came nigh to the gate of the 
city, behold a dead man was carried out, the only 
son of his mother : and she was a widow : and 
a great multitude of the city was with her. 

" Whom when the Lord had seen, being moved 
with mercy toward her, He said to her : Weep 
not. 

" And He came near and touched the bier. 
(And they that carried it, stood still.) And He 
said : Young man, I say to thee, arise. 

" And he that was dead sat up, and began to 
speak. And He gave him to his mother " (Luke 
vii. 11-15). 

Again, at the thought of the obduracy of the 
Jews, He is filled with compassion, and exclaims : 

" Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the 
prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto 
thee, how often would I have gathered together 
thy children, as the hen doth gather her chick- 
ens under her wings, and thou wouldst not ? 

" Behold, your house shall be left to you, 
desolate. 



Jesus the Shepherd of Our Souls. 35 

" For I say to you, yon shall not see Me hence- 
forth till you say : Blessed is He that cometh in 
the name of the Lord " (Matt, xxiii. 37-39). 

The Lord had complained by the mouth of the 
prophet Ezechiel (xxxiv.) that the pastors of 
his days did not feed His flock. " The weak you 
have not strengthened, and that which was sick 
you have not healed ; . . . that which was driven 
away you have not brought again ; neither have 
you sought that which was lost." See how dif- 
ferent the conduct of the Shepherd of our souls. 
He has depicted Himself in the following words : 
" I am the Good Shepherd, and I know Mine, and 
Mine know Me" (John x. 11). " What man of you 
that hath an hundred sheep, and if he shall lose 
one of them, doth he not leave the ninety-nine 
in the desert, and go after that which was lost un- 
til he find it ? And when he has found it, lay it 
upon his shoulders, rejoicing ; and coming home 
call together his friends and neighbors, saying to 
them : Rejoice with me, because I have found my 
sheep that was lost. I say to you, that even so 
there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that 
doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just 
who need not penance" (Lukexv. 4, etseq.). Like 
the shepherd of sheep who has lost one of them, 
the Shepherd of our souls, Jesus Christ, travelled 
long distances, endured fatigues and hunger to 



36 Jesus the Shepherd of Our Souls. 

find and save lost souls, and to show how 
dear they are to His Heart. He represents Him- 
self as a father dishonored, forsaken by an un- 
grateful son, yet running toward him when he 
sees him returning, falling upon his neck and 
kissing him, and restoring to him his former in- 
heritance. 

Jesus Christ, the Shepherd of souls, was not sat- 
isfied with imparting light to the minds of His 
disciples ; He also provided love for their hearts, 
and for this purpose He began to show to them 
the vanity of all the pleasures, honors, and 
riches of earth. " Woe to you who laugh now, 
for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you 
when men shall speak well of you. Woe to 
you rich, for you have your consolation. Woe to 
you who are filled, for you shall hunger." He sets 
before the eyes of His disciples the danger an- 
nexed to the possession of riches. " Amen I say 
to you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the 
kingdom of heaven" (Matt. xix. 23). 

"There was a certain rich man, who was 
clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted 
sumptuously every day. 

" And there was a certain beggar named Laza- 
rus, who lay at his gate, full of sores, 

" Desiring to be filled with the crumbs that 
fell from the rich man's table, and no one did 



Jesus the Shepherd of Our Souls. 37 

give him ; moreover the dogs came and licked 
his sores. 

" And it came to pass that the beggar died, 
and was carried by the angels into Abraham's 
bosom. And the rich man also died : and he was 
buried in hell. 

" And lifting up his eyes when he was in tor- 
ments, he saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in 
his bosom. 

" And he cried and said : Father Abraham, 
have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may 
dip the tip of his finger in water, to cool my 
tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. 

" And Abraham said to him : Son, remember 
that thou didst receive good things in thy life- 
time, and likewise Lazarus evil things : but now 
he is comforted, and thou art tormented ; 

" And besides all this, between us and you 
there is fixed a great chaos : so that they who 
would pass from hence to you cannot, nor from 
thence come hither" (Luke xvi. 19-26). 

If it is impossible for a man who makes bad use 
of wealth and neglects the care of his soul to be 
saved, it is vanity for us to love goods which we 
have to part with at death, and it is also vanity 
to be over-solicitous concerning our temporal 
wants. See how admirable is the following page 
of the Gospel (Luke xii.). 



38 Jesus the Shepherd of Our Souls. 

" And He said to them : Take heed and be- 
ware of all covetousness : for a man's life does 
not consist in the abundance of things which he 
possesseth. 

" And He spoke a similitude to them, saying : 
The land of a certain rich man brought forth 
plenty of fruits : 

" And he thought within himself, saying : 
What shall I do, because I have no room where 
to bestow my fruits ? 

" And he said : This will I do : I will pull 
down my barns, and will build greater : and into 
them will I gather all things that are grown to 
me, and my goods. 

" And I will say to my soul : Soul, thou hast 
much goods laid up for many years : take thy 
rest, eat, drink, make good cheer. 

" But G-od said to him : Thou fool, this night 
do they require thy soul of thee : and whose 
shall those things be which thou hast provided ? 

" So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, 
and is not rich toward God. 

" And He said to His disciples : Therefore I 
say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what 
you shall eat : nor for your body, what you shall 
put on. 

" The life is more than the meat, and the body 
is more than the raiment. 



Jesus the Shepherd of Our Souls. 39 

" Consider the ravens, for they sow not, neither 
do they reap, neither have they store-house nor 

barn, and God feedeth them. How much are 
you more valuable than they ? 

" And which of you by taking thought can 
add to his stature one cubit ? 

" If then you be not able to do so much as the 
least thing, why are you solicitous for the rest ? 

" Consider the lilies how they grow : they la- 
bor not, neither do they spin : but I say to you, 
not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed 
like one of these. 

" Now if God clothe in this manner the grass 
that is to-day in the field and to-morrow is cast 
into the oven : how much more you, O ye of lit- 
tle faith ? 

" And seek not you what you shall eat, or what 
you shall drink ; and be not lifted up on high : 

" For all these things do the nations of the 
world seek. But your Father knoweth that you 
have need of these things. 

" But seek ye first the kingdom of God and 
His justice : and all these things shall be added 
unto you. 

" Fear not, little flock, for it hath pleased your 
Father to give you a kingdom." 

The doctrine of Jesus Christ contained in the 
preceding extracts is reasserted by His beloved 



40 Jesus the Shepherd of Our Souls. 

disciple St. John. " Love not the world nor the 
things that are in the world. If any man love 
the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 
For all that is in the world, the Inst of the flesh, 
and the Inst of the eyes, and the pride of life, is 
not of the Father, bnt of the world. And the 
world passes away, and its Inst, bnt he who doth 
the will of God abideth forever " (I. John ii. 15 3 
et $eq.). 

What food, then, has the Good Shepherd pro- 
vided for onr hearts % The Good Shepherd bids 
ns love Almighty God, the sonrce of all beanty, • 
of all perfections. Although invisible to onr 
eyes because He is a spirit, He is not far from 
any one of ns : " For in Him we live, we move, 
and we have onr being." He who is the Creator 
of all things visible and invisible is essentially 
good and merciful. He is our Father, the Father 
of every one of us, who never forsakes the care 
of us, but knows all our needs, and is ever ready 
to supply them. All that He desires us to do is 
to ask for them ; for if men who are evil will not 
give a stone to their son who asks for bread, 
much less will our Father who is in heaven refuse 
to grant the requests of His children. Ah, sure- 
ly the thought of our great God, the remem- 
brance of all His benefits, past and present, suffice 
to fill our hearts with love and gratitude. But 



Jesus the Shepherd of Our Souls. 41 

what shall we say about the blessings He has in 
store for us I 

He promises to be our protector and our re- 
ward exceedingly great. The just are the bless- 
ed of His heart, and He has prepared for them a 
kingdom from the foundation of the world. In 
that kingdom angels and saints will be our com- 
panions, and God Himself will reveal Himself to 
us face to face,, not through the veil of His crea- 
tures ; and as a consequence of that vision and 
possession of God, the soul will be inebriated 
with the joy of the house of God, and shall be 
made to drink of the torrent of His delights. And 
as that vision and possession of God shall be 
eternal, well may we rejoice in the things which 
were said to us : " We shall go in the house of 
the Lord ;" "It has pleased our Father to give 
us a kingdom. 5 ' 

Yet, because we are on earth and do not see 
our Creator in His glory, because we are exiles 
from our country and have not yet been brought 
to our home in heaven, " God so loved the 
world as to give His only begotten Son" (John 
iii. 16). This Son of God was made flesh and 
dwelt among us, and through Him we were en- 
abled to know of the glory, of the goodness, of 
the mercy of the Father. This Son of God incar- 
nate called Himself the Good Shepherd, and His 



42 Jesus the Shepherd of Our Souls. 

power, His goodness, His mercy, were so well 
known that He won the admiration and affection 
of the multitude, who followed Him wherever He 
went. Still He had not yet suffered and died for 
them. He had not yet come out of the grave 
and ascended triumphant into heaven. They 
who lived in the days of Jesus Christ were fully 
convinced that He was indeed a true shepherd, 
but they were not acquainted with all the bene- 
fits resulting from His life and death unto all 
mankind to the end of time. Of these we hope 
to speak in the following chapters ; heretofore 
we have considered Him as the apostles and dis- 
ciples saw Him before His passion and death. 



CHAPTER VI. 

ONLY ONE SHEPHERD. 

Announced by the Prophets, Expected by the Jeivs, De- 
clared by Gabriel, Zachary, and Holy Simeon. 

AVhen Moses in the Pentateuch, when David 
in his Psalms, or the other prophets spoke of 
the Messias, of the Ruler to come, of the Saviour 
of men, they always spoke of one, not of many. 
The just sighed for one who was to rule the 
world, praying that the clouds might rain down 
the just, that the earth might open itself and bud 
forth the Saviour. To Mary it was announced by 
Gabriel, " Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy 
womb and bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call 
His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be 
called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord 
shall give Him the throne of David His father, 
and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for- 
ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end" 
(Luke i. 31-33). Here we see that the archangel 
foretells the birth of one Jesus, of one whose 
reign shall last forever. No message of the kind 
was sent to announce the appearance of another 

43 



44 Only One Shepherd. 

Messias. If from Nazareth, the dwelling-place 
of Mary, we go to Bethlehem, there we shall 
hear the angel saying to the shepherds : " Be- 
hold, I bring you good news of great joy, which 
shall be to all the people, for this day is born to 
yon in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ 
the Lord" (Luke ii. 10). To devout Simeon it had 
been revealed by the Holy Spirit that he should 
not see death before he had seen the Christ of 
the Lord, and when allowed to take the infant 
Jesus in his arms, he blessed God and said : 
" Now, O Lord, Thou dost dismiss Thy servant 
in peace, . . . for mine eyes have seen Thy 
salvation, which Thou hast prepared in sight of 
all nations, light to enlighten the Gentiles, and 
glory of Thy people Israel" (Luke ii. 29-32). 

We see that the Jews, in the days of Jesus 
Christ, were expecting the coming of the Re- 
deemer — " Art Thou He who is to come, or do 
we wait for another ?" Not the priests alone 
thought that the time of His appearance was 
nigh, but the people of the country also. We hear 
the woman of Samaria saying to Jesus Christ : 
" I know that the Messias cometh" (John 
iv. 25), to which remark Jesus Christ replied, 
saying : " I who speak to thee am He" (ibid.). 
But let us return to the declaration of Jesus 
Christ Himself : "I am the true Shepherd, .. . . 



Only One Shepherd. 45 

and other sheep I have which are not of this 
fold ; them also I must bring, and they shall hear 
My voice, and there shall he one fold and one 
shepherd" (John x. 14, 16). From the words of 
Christ it follows that He is the Prince of pastors, 
as St. Peter calls Him, and that any man not sent 
by and united to Him " is a hireling and not a 
shepherd, for Jesus Christ calls Himself also the 
door of the sheej), and he that does not enter by 
the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up 
another way, the same is a thief and a robber." 



CHAPTER VII. 

HOW CAN JESUS CHRIST, THE GOOD SHEP- 
HERD, TAKE CARE OF HIS FLOCK? 

The Apostles Taught His Doctrine.- — Their Successors 
inherit their Promises. 

The Good Shepherd died, raised Himself 
from the dead, went up to heaven, and is no 
longer visible on earth. How can we now be 
taught His doctrine, His commandments; how 
can we know the means He instituted to sanctify 
us ? Through His sufferings and sacrifice He 
paid the price of our redemption ; where shall 
we find memorials of His sufferings ? who shall 
apply to us the merits of His passion and death ? 
Oh, that the Good Shepherd would appear anew, 
and come to visit and sanctify every living 
man ! 

They surely were blessed whose eyes beheld the 
adorable Son of Mary ! Blessed the ears of those 
who heard the words which fell from His sacred 
lips ! But He who came to save the world for- 
got not those who were to live on earth many 
ages after His ascension to heaven. The king- 

46 



The Care of Christ's Flock. 47 

doin or house of the Christ was to last to the end 
of time, and He did not leave His work unfin- 
ished. He provided for the sanctification of 
man for all times to come. The Good Shepherd, 
as we stated, must provide truth for the minds 
of His disciples, and love for their hearts. He 
must introduce them into heaven. 

We here again recall to mind the sparrows and 
the lilies, the kind providence of God, who 
u openeth His hand, and lilleth every animal with 
blessing." We remember with special gratitude 
how He caused us to be conceived, and preserved 
our existence in the womb of our mother. He 
has not for one moment ceased to love us, to 
provide for our temporal wants. Can He who 
has given a mother to the infant have neglected 
to provide him with the means to save his soul ? 
This supposition is a grievous insult against Him 
who said : "I came that they may have life, and 
have it more abundantly." 

Let us imagine that we have ourselves listened 
to the words of the Master during three years, 
on the banks of the Jordan, on the shores of the 
Lake of Tiberias, on the mountains and in the 
plains of Palestine, but that now we are standing 
on the summit of the Mount of Olives, gazing 
on Him who through His own virtue ascends on 
high. Joy and sorrow filled the hearts of all 



48 The Care of Christ's Flock. 

the witnesses of the ascension, yet joy was up- 
permost in those hearts. " They went back to 
Jerusalem with great joy" (Luke xxiv. 52). They 
rejoiced for the glory of their Master ; they re- 
joiced at the thought of His power, of His fidelity 
to accomplish His promises. They felt that they 
were not forsaken ; they remembered the words 
spoken on the mountain of Galilee — "All 
power is given to Me in heaven and in earth : 
going therefore, teach ye all nations, baptizing 
them in the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them 
to observe all things whatsoever I have com- 
manded you ; and behold, I am with you all 
days, even to the consummation of the world" 
(Matt, xxviii 18-20). The disciples who came 
down from the mountain and assembled in 
the great room on Mount Sion saw with them 
the twelve whom Jesus Christ had chosen, whom 
He had commissioned to teach and to administer 
the sacraments which He had instituted. It 
seems that they at least who had heard the Sav- 
iour, and had known the apostles who followed 
Him for three years, could not have the least 
doubt regarding the doctrine which they taught 
or the efficacy of their ministrations. What of 
those who, like ourselves, have never seen any of 



The Care of Christ' 's Flock 49 

the twelve, and are living so many hundreds of 
years after their death ? 

For us also the Good Shepherd has provided 
easy means to know His doctrine and to sanctify 
our souls through the channels of grace which 
He has instituted. He has promised to be with 
the apostles until the consummation of the world 
— that is, with their successors, since it is well 
known that. He had not promised to them ex- 
emption from death, and that they all have 
departed this life. The great promise, I am with 
you, followed the commission, " Go and teach all 
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Fa- 
ther, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, 
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever 
I have commanded you." The promise is con- 
nected with and refers to the commission. It 
follows that when the successors of the apostles 
teach the Gospel, Jesus Christ is with them 
teaching. It follows that when they baptize, 
Jesus Christ is assisting them. It follows that 
when they offer the sacrifice, they act with the 
power and assistance of their Master ; and so it 
is with regard to other ministrations intended 
to sanctify men. 

Blessed be the Good Shepherd, who has 
pointed out to us an easy, clear, infallible way 
to know and accomplish His will ! Where are 



50 The Care of Christ's Flock. 

the successors of the apostles ? Who are they 
who have entered by the door ? These will 
surely find good pastures for their flock ; these 
will introduce them into life eternal ! 



CHAPTEK VIII. 

HOW SHALL WE FIND THE SHEPHERDS SENT 
BY THE GOOD SHEPHERD ? 

They are not Individuals, interpreting the Bible for 
Themselves, — They are not a Body of Bishops, 

This is the all-important question. If we find 
those who are sent by Jesus Christ, we know that 
we shall be taught His doctrine and His com- 
mandments ; for He said, speaking of those, " He 
that heareth you heareth Me." Let us again 
imagine that we stand on the Mountain of Olives, 
immediately after the ascension of Jesus Christ. 
The apostles have been commanded to preach 
the Gospel to every creature, unto the whole 
world. They were to be witnesses to Him in 
Jerusalem first, then in all Judea and Samaria, 
and to the uttermost parts of the earth. As long 
as the apostles remained in Jerusalem or Judea 
there could not be much difficulty in compar- 
ing the teaching of one of the apostles with the 
teaching of another ; but they were to disperse 
after a few years, and we know that after a very 
short time their voice had been heard in all the 

51 



52 How to Find the Shepherds 

world. As long as the apostles lived there was no 
danger of misunderstanding, no danger of error, 
for they had received a special gift of infallibility 
and the power of confirming their doctrine by 
miracles, so as to enable them to plant the Church 
in the whole world. 

It might be supposed that the Master had com- 
manded some one to write what He had taught, 
what He had commanded, what He willed to be 
done, in order that we might receive grace and 
worship Him. But this He certainly did not do. 
Many years elapsed before any of the Gospels or 
Epistles were written. All the sacred books of 
the New Testament were addressed to those w\ho 
were disciples already ; they were written on ac- 
count of some occurrences in churches already 
established, or in answer to some questions. As 
instances we have St. Matthew, writing to the 
Hebrew converts in Judea ; St. Luke, writing for 
the benefit of the Greeks ; St. Paul, writing to 
the Romans ; St. Peter, writing to those of Cap- 
padocia, Pontus, and other places. The Gospel of 
Jesus Christ existed in the minds and hearts of 
the first Christians, but that Gospel was not writ- 
ten. 

If we suppose that immediately after the as- 
cension there was a written Gospel, with an ob- 
ligation for every man to read and interpret it 



Sent hy the Good Shepherd. 53 

according to the conception of his mind, we must 
draw the inference that Jesus Christ was not the 
Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd loves His 
sheep, and places them in rich pastures, in pas- 
tures ready of access. But the poor could not 
have procured the blessed book ; the ignorant, and, 
we say it in truth, the learned themselves, could 
not have comprehended its contents, as it must 
have referred to countries, to customs, to events 
of which they knew nothing or very little. If we 
suppose a life of the Saviour, with a full expose of 
His doctrine and precepts, to have been written 
from the beginning, where shall we find that 
book ? Does it contain the names of all the true 
messengers of Christ from the day of His ascen- 
sion until now ? Does it contain the name of 
each bishop, whom in our days we are bound to 
obey as the Lord Himself ? for faith cometh by 
hearing. How shall we find the shepherds sent 
by the Good Shepherd, whose voice we must 
hear ? 

Did not the apostles found and establish and 
govern dioceses or certain ecclesiastical districts 
as we have now dioceses and bishops governing 
them ? Did not the body of those bishops, suc- 
cessors of the apostles, form the governing body 
of the Church? 

We answer that the mission of the apostles 



54 How to Find the Shepherds 

was to teach everywhere ; to establish churches, 
but not to govern them. These messengers of 
Christ would ordain and appoint bishops and 
priests for the government of the communities 
which they had evangelized, but their chief duty 
was to preach, and not to baptize and administer 
the sacraments in a given congregation of dis- 
ciples. They were tl\e apostles of the world, but 
not the bishops of certain districts. Their ju- 
risdiction extended to all the world ; they, how- 
ever, agreed as to the countries that each was to 
evangelize ; but, we repeat, they rather formed 
and superintended than governed dioceses. It 
were difficult indeed to find St. Paul, St. Mat- 
thias, and others as bishops of Athens, of Antioch, 
etc. Since the apostles were not resident pas- 
tors, we cannot find a continuous list of their 
successors, or, in other words, there does not exist 
on earth a body of apostolic bishops whom we 
may consider as the vicars of Jesus Christ in the 
government of His Church or kingdom on earth. 
Let us constantly keep before our eyes the 
idea of the Good /Shepherd, whose voice may be 
known by His sheep. If a body of icould-le 
apostolic bishops, as some would have it, had 
been appointed to govern the Church, we might 
bid farewell to the doctrine of Jesus Christ, we 
might bid farewell to order and harmony ; and, 



Sent ly the Good Shepherd. 55 

first of all, what prelate would have superiority 
over the rest, who would have divine power to 
convoke and to preside over synods? What 
should the disciples do in the case of want of una- 
nimity among the bishops ? How could men, 
separated as they are by immense distances from 
one another, living in inaccessible or barbarous 
countries — how could they find out what was 
agreed or decided between the governing bish- 
ops ? And again, the Gospel was not preached in 
early days in countries and among nations which 
have become known since the days of Christ. 
Who would have power to divide the world and 
form Christian districts, and establish over them 
divinely commissioned missionaries ? Oh, no ; the 
voice of those humanly-appointed teachers would 
not be the voice of the true Shepherd, and their 
work could not last, for " every tree that My 
Father has not planted shall be rooted up." We 
insist on this point : Jesus Christ loves His sheep, 
and He must have left us an easy way of finding 
His true ministers, and those ministers are not 
they who cannot trace their commission to the 
person of the Good Shepherd Himself. 

Day-spring, Brightness of the everlasting 
life, Sun of righteousness, come to give light to 
them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of 
death ! 



CHAPTER IX. 

OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST HAS A VICAR OK 
EARTH. 

St. Peter 9 s Life. — Memorials of St. Peter in Rome. — 
Recognized as the Vicar of Christ. 

We saw in the preceding chapter that the 
Saviour did not commit the government of the 
Church to a body of prelates. We must not, how- 
ever, be understood as saying that the apostles 
were not chosen by Him — that other consecrated 
bishops after them have not a certain part in the 
government of the Church ; but these must be in 
communion with the shepherd whom He ap- 
pointed to replace Him. 

Reason alone demonstrates that a supreme 
head was necessary in the Church which Jesus 
Christ established, the more so since it was to ex- 
tend over the whole world and to last to the end 
of time. The writer of these pages turns with 
pleasure to the great apostle whom the Master 
appointed and commissioned to take care of His 
flock. The memory of St. Peter is very dear 
to us, for we remember his ardent love for his 

56 



Christ's Vicar on Earth. 57 

Master, the bitter tears which he never ceased to 
shed after his denial. We remember the kindness 
of his heart to his spiritual children ; the labors 
which he underwent in founding churches, and 
his heavy chains and long imprisonment in the 
Mamertine Prison. We know of his crucifixion 
on the Yatican Hill ; of the letter which he wrote 
to his disciples from his dungeon, and these 
memories we connect with those of the places in 
Rome and the Holy Land which were the theatres 
of his actions or of the graces conferred upon 
him. 

St. Peter was born at Bethsaida, on the shore 
of the Lake of Genesareth, and was a fisherman 
by trade, like his father, and Andrew, his brother. 
Being brought to the Saviour when He was on the 
shore of the Jordan, where John the Baptist was 
baptizing, the Lord looked upon him and said : 
Thou art Simon, the son of ' Jona / thou shalt he 
called Cephas, which means a rock (John i. 
42). Not long after this prediction, Jesus Christ, 
" passing by the Sea of Galilee, saw Simon and 
Andrew his brother casting nets into the sea, for 
they were fishermen. And He said to them, 
Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of 
men ; and immediately leaving their nets, they 
followed Him" (Matt. xii.). 

St. Luke, in the fifth chapter of his Gospel, re- 



58 Christ's Vicar on Earth. 

lates another interesting event in the life of 
Simon, or Peter. " And it came to pass that 
when the multitudes pressed upon Jesus to hear 
the word of God, lie stood by the Lake of Genes- 
areth, and He saw two ships standing by the 
lalce / hut the fishermen were gone out of them, 
and were washing their nets / and going into one 
of the ships that was Simon' ] s, He desired him to 
draw hack a little from the land, and sitting, He 
taught the multitude out of the ship. Now when 
He had ceased to speak, He said to Simon: 
Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets 
for a draught. And Simon answering, said to 
Him : Master, we have labored all the night and 
have taken nothing y hut at Thy word I will let 
down the net. And when they had done this 
they enclosed a very great multitude of fishes, 
and their nets broke. And they beckoned to their 
partners that were in the other ship, that they 
should come and help them. And they cams, 
and filled both the ships so that they were almost 
sinking. And when Simon saw it he fell down 
at Jesu$ knees, saying : Depart from me, for I 
am a sinful man, Lord. For he was wholly 
astonished and all that were with him at the 
draitght of the fishes which they had taken. And 
so were also James and John, the sons of Zebedee, 
who were Simon's partners. And Jesus said to 



Christ's Vicar on Earth. 59 

Si //ion : Fear not, for from henceforth thou shalt 
take men. And having brought their ships to 
land, leaving all things they followed Him" 

Hitherto Simon Peter had followed Jesus 
Christ as a disciple and received of Him many 
tokens of predilection ; he had not, however, re- 
ceived as yet any official appointment ; but at 
the beginning of* His second year's ministry, 
" Jesus went out into the mountain to pray, and 
He passed the whole night in the prayer of God, 
and when day was come He called unto Him His 
disciples, and He chose twelve of them, whom 
also He named apostles. And He made that 
twelve shotdd be with Him, and that He might 
send them to preach. And He gave them power 
to heal sickness and to cast out devils. Now the 
names of the twelve apostles are these : The first 
Simon, and to him He gave the name Peter, and 
James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother 
of James / and He named them Boanerges, 
which is, The sons of thunder ; and Andrew 
and Philip, and Bartholomew and Matthew, 
and Thomas and James of Alpheus, and Thad- 
deus, and Simon the Cananean, and Judas Is- 
cariot, who also betrayed Him" (Matt. x. ; 
Luke vi. ; Mark iii.). The twelve apostles chosen 
by the Lord followed their Master wherever He 
went, saw Him perform miracles of all kinds, 



60 Christ's Vicar on Earth. 

and among others saw Him restore to life the 
daughter of Jairus and the son of the widow of 
Nairn ; they had in His name, while preaching 
the Gospel by His command, performed extra- 
ordinary cures ; nay, they had cast out devils. 
Peter had not been slow to detect in the person 
of his Master one that was greater than any 
prophet. We shall see how he professed his faith, 
and how the Lord rewarded him. : " Jesus came 
into the quarters of Cesarea Philippi / and it 
came to pass, as He was alone praying, His dis- 
ciples also were with Him, and He asked them 
saying : Whom do men say that the Son of man 
is? But they said, Some John the Baptist, 
and other-some, Blias, and others, Jeremias, or 
one of the prophets. Jesus says to them, But 
whom do you say that I am ? Simon Peter an- 
swered and said : Thou art the Christ, the Son of 
the living God. And Jesus answering said to 
him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona, because 
flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but 
My Father, who is in heaven. And I say to thee 
that thou art Peter ; and upon this rock I will 
build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not 
prevail against it. And I will give to thee the 
keys of the kingdom of heaven • and whatsoever 
thou shalt bind upon earth it shall be bound also 
in heaven • and whatsoever thou shalt loose on 



Christ's Vicar on Earth. 61 

earth it shall be loosed also in heaven" (Matt, 
xvi. ; Luke ix. ; Mark viii.). We know from the 
Gospel account how the Lord fulfilled these 
magnificent promises. At the Last Supper He 
declared to him, " I have prayed for thee, that 
thy faith fail not? Then, after His passion and 
death, He raised Himself from the dead, and He, 
the Good Shepherd, is about to leave His dear 
disciples after Him. But He provides for their 
welfare in the person of His chosen apostle. 
" When, therefore, they [Simon Peter and his com- 
panions] had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter : 
Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me more than 
these f He says to Him : Lord, Thou Jcnowest 
that I love Thee. He saith to him, Feed My 
lambs. He saith to him again : Simon, son of 
John, lovest thou Me f He says to Him, Yea, 
Lord, Thou Jcnowest that Llove Thee. He saith to 
him, Feed My lambs. He saith to him the third 
time : Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me ? 
Peter was grieved because He had said to him 
the third time, Simon, son of John, lovest thou 
Me ? and he said to Him, Lord, Thou Jcnowest all 
things / Thou Jcnowest tJiat Llove Thee. He said 
to him, Feed My sheep" (John xxi. 15-17). In 
this manner did Our Lord fulfil the promise He 
had made to build His Church upon Peter the 
rock. And He commits the whole Church to 



62 Christ's Vicar on Earth. 

his care. He enjoins him to feed all the faithful 
as the shepherd should feed his flock. " Feed 
My lambs, feed My sheep" As long as Jesus 
Christ was on earth, Peter exercised no act as 
supreme head or pastor of the Church ; but as 
soon as His Master has ascended up into heaven, 
he remembers the flock committed to his charge. 
Judas, after selling his Master, had put the seal to 
his reprobation by hanging himself from the tree. 
Who will now see to have one to replace him ? 
Immediately after the ascension of their Master, 
the apostles, with the Blessed Virgin, and upward 
of one hundred disciples, had assembled in an 
upper room in Jerusalem, where they all perse- 
vered with one mind in prayer. " In these days 
Peter, rising up in the midst of the brethren, 
said : Men, brethren, the Scripture must needs 
be fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost spoke before, 
by the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who 
was the leader of them that apprehended Jesus, 
who was numbered with us, and heed obtained 
part of this ministry / and he indeed hath pos- 
sessed afield of the reward of iniquity, and be- 
ing hanged, burst asunder in the midst, and 
all his bowels gushed out. Wherefore of these 
men who have companioned with us all the time 
that the Lord Jesus came in and went out among 
us, beginning from the baptism of John, until 



Christ's Vicar on Earth. 63 

the day wherein lie was taken up from us, one 
of these must he made a witness with us of His 
resurrection. And they appointed two : and 
they gave their lots, and the lot fell upon Mat- 
thias, and he was numbered, with the eleven 
apostles^ (Acts i. 15, el seq.). 

After tlie descent of the Holy Ghost upon the 
apostles, Peter was the first to address the crowds 
who assembled around them at the sound of the 
mighty voice from heaven, and at the voice of 
the apostle three thousand men on that day, and 
shortly after five thousand more, were converted 
(Acts ii.). During the stay of the apostles at 
Jerusalem after the ascension, a stay which last- 
ed probably not less than four years, many were 
converted by them in the city and surrounding 
country, but all these were visited by Peter 
(Acts ix. 32). To Peter Almighty God revealed 
that the Gentiles were to be received into the 
Church (Acts x.). To Peter his Master had 
given power to work extraordinary miracles, such 
as to heal the sick and raise the dead to life 
(Acts ix.). Nay, his very shadow delivered the 
sick from their infirmities. " The multitude of 
men and women %cho believed in the Lord was 
more increased, insomuch that they brought 
forth the sick into the streets and laid them on 
beds and couches, that when Peter came his 



64 Christ's Vicar on Earth. 

shadow at the least might overshadow any of 
them, and they might he delivered from their in- 
firmities. And there came also together to Jeru- 
salem a multitude out of the neighboring cities, 
bringing sick persons and such as were troubled 
with unclean spirits, who were all healed" (Acts 
y. 14—16). Nothing demonstrates so clearly the 
opinion of the Jews regarding St. Peter's office, 
and the affection of the Christians for him, as 
the fact related in the twelfth chapter of the Acts. 
Herod, to please the enemies of the disciples of 
Christ, cast Peter into prison because he was 
known to be their head. He takes the most ex- 
traordinary precautions lest his prisoner may es- 
cape ; he prepares to make a show of him and 
put him to death after the Easter festivals, " but 
prayer was made without ceasing by the Church 
unto God for him" 

At the meeting of the apostles and ancients at 
Jerusalem to consider the question of the Cir- 
cumcision, Peter it was who presided over the 
assembly, and to whose opinion all the others 
acceded. 

From ecclesiastical history it is known that 
Peter established his see at Antioch, and occu- 
pied it seven years. St. James, returning from 
Spain, was beheaded by order of Herod Agrippa, 
in the year 44 from the birth of Christ, and at 



Christ's Vicar on Earth. 65 

the same time Peter was cast into prison by 
this tyrant. But, being freed by an angel, the 
apostle visited many places, and finally entered 
Rome, and there permanently established his 
see, on January 18th, at the beginning of the 
year 45. Some of the places visited and evan- 
gelized by Peter were Cesarea, Sidon, Berytum 
(Beyrout), Tripoli, Antioch ; then Galatia, Cap- 
padocia, Pontus, Asia, Bithynia, everywhere 
confirming the faithful in the faith and provid- 
ing them with bishops (St. Jerome, quoted by 
Baronius). 

Peter was the first of the apostles to enter 
Rome, and Rome at this time being the capital 
of the empire and of the world, the apostle 
wished that there also should reside the head of 
the Church ; that Rome should be the centre of 
the kingdom- of Jesus Christ. At Rome, Peter 
lived in the house of Pudens, a Roman senator, 
whom he converted to the faith, together with 
his two sons, Timothy and Novatus, and his two 
daughters, Pudentiana and Praxedes. Our apos- 
tle lived in Rome to the ninth year of the Em- 
peror Nero, who put him to death, and also St. 
Paul, on the same day. Although our apostle 
resided chiefly in Rome, lie made excursions to 
other countries, and here it is well to note that 
Claudius, the emperor, having ordered all the 



66 Christ's Vicar on Earth. 

Jews to depart from Rome, St. Peter left the 
city for a time and visited Jerusalem, where he 
presided over the council assembled to decide re- 
garding the Circumcision of the Gentile converts. 
There are many things in the city of Rome 
which remind us of the life of St. Peter in 
that celebrated place ; for instance, we have the 
Church of St. Pudentiana, which stands on the 
spot on which was the dwelling of the senator 
named Pudens, with whom St. Peter lived 
some time. St. Peter, on arriving at Rome, first 
lived in the quarter of the city inhabited by 
the Jew r s. When lie had converted to the faith 
Senator Pudens, his mother, named Priscilla, his 
two sons, Novatus and Timothy, and his two 
daughters, Praxedes and Pudentiana, the house 
of these fervent neophytes became the dwelling 
of the Apostle St. Peter, who lived there full 
seven years. This house became for the Chris- 
tians of Rome what the cenacle on Mount Sion 
was for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Here the 
Vicar of Christ celebrated the holy mysteries, 
presided at religious ceremonies; here he gave 
consecration to SS. Linus and Cletus, who suc- 
ceeded him, and from the same dwelling he gave 
their mission to many apostles of the West. In 
a long, narrow chapel alongside of the chancel 
of St. Pudentiana there is kept a wooden table 



Christ 9 s Vicar on Earth. 67 

on which the chief of the apostles frequently 
offered the holy sacrifice. On the Via JNTomen- 
tana there is a catacomb named Ad Nymphas 
Sancti Petri. There were in that neighborhood 
in the days of the apostle many springs and 
marshy places, which were named the Foun- 
tains of the Nymphs. St. Peter, it is said, 
used to come there to administer baptism. Be- 
sides the altar used by St. Peter, which is now in 
the Church of St. Pudentiana, there is another 
of the same kind preserved in the rear of the 
great altar of the Basilica of St. John Lateran. 
It was taken from the catacombs by Pope Syl- 
vester. This altar is named a Papal altar, be- 
cause, in memory of St. Peter, the Pope alone 
may celebrate upon it, without authorization 
granted by a special brief. In the Church of 
S. Maria in Transpontina, in the Via Del Borgo 
Nuovo, there is a column erected on a base of 
white marble, and enclosed in another column of 
red marble. At the lower part of this last shaft, 
through a hole covered with glass, the inscrip- 
tion can be seen : This is the column to which 
St. Peter was hound and scourged by the order 
of Nero. A most precious souvenir of St. Peter 
in Rome is the chair of St. Peter in the great 
Basilica which bears his name. It is contained 
in a magnificent throne-like monument erected in 



68 Clirist's Vicar on Earth. 

the apex of the church. This throne-like monu- 
ment is made of gilt bronze, and borne or rather 
sustained by four immense statues representing 
SS. Ambrose and Augustine, SS. Athanasius and 
John Chrysostom. The celebrated antiquarian, 
De Rossi, has described this precious relic and 
demonstrated its authenticity. It was our own 
good fortune to see and examine it during the 
Vatican Council of 1870, when it was exposed 
to view for a very short time. We might here 
speak of the shrine named Domine quo vadis, 
built in commemoration of an apparition of Our 
Saviour to St. Peter; we might mention other 
places made memorable by his presence or actions, 
but we prefer to mention at once the Mamertine 
dungeon and the chains wherewith he was bound. 
After a life full of trials, filled with apostolic 
labors, St. Peter was martyred in Rome in the year 
67, the twenty-fifth year of his pontificate in the 
city. He had here converted to the faith a large 
number of pagans, nay, many of the emperor's 
household, and destroyed the power of Simon the 
Magician. Nero, the emperor, incensed at the 
apostle's successes and of his triumph over the ma- 
gician, swore that he would put an end to the relig- 
ion of Christ, and resolved to begin the work by 
killing St. Peter. This being known to the Chris- 
tians of Rome, they begged the apostle to leave the 



Christ 9 s Vicar on Earth, 69 

city, which lie did ; but he had scarcely started 
on the Appian Way, when Our Lord appeared to 
him as it were on His way to Rome. Whither 
art Thou going, my Lord ? St. Peter asked of his 
Master. The Lord answered He was going hack 
to Rome to be crucified anew. 

St. Peter understood what was intended by 
this apparition ; he returned to the city, was 
caught by the agents of Nero, and by his order 
was cast into the Mamertine Prison. This is 
a horrible dungeon at the foot of the Roman 
Capitol, which is devoutly visited by pilgrims, 
and where we had the honor to say Mass. This 
dungeon is low. damp, entirely deprived of light, 
and here Peter and Paul were chained to one 
pillar until the day of their martyrdom (June 
29 th). In this dungeon Peter was kept enchained 
nine months ; but even here the power of G-od 
was manifested in his person, for he converted 
Processus and Martinianus, the two guards ap- 
pointed to watch the holy prisoners, with forty- 
seven other persons. As there was no water to 
baptize these converts, a spring sprang out mirac- 
ulously at the prayer of St. Peter. This spring 
still exists, and never overflows or dries up. In 
the corner of the dungeon there is a stone pillar, 
protected by an iron grating, to which were 
fastened the chains of SS. Peter and Paul. 



70 Christ's Vicar on Earth, 

Through the circular hole in the ceiling prisoners 
were let down into this dungeon. 

After the martyrdom of St. Peter, the faithful 
of Rome did not forget his chain of the Mamer- 
tine Prison. They procured it from his keepers 
and kept it secretly till the year 116, when it 
was found under the pontificate of St. Alexan- 
der I. It was found by St. Balbina, who con- 
fided it to Theodora, a devout noble Roman 
lady, sister of St. Hermes, Prefect of Rome.* 
Theodora caused an oratory to be erected on the 
Esquiline Hill ; the chain was deposited in it, 
and from that time it was exposed to the vener- 
ation of the public. At this time the two chains 
wherewith St. Peter was bound by order of 
Herod Agrippa (see Acts xii.) were in the pos- 
session of the Patriarch of Jerusalem. But 
when the Empress Eudoxia had brought one of 
these chains to Rome, she at once caused a mag- 
nificent basilica to be erected in place of the 
shrine built by Theodora, and in this edifice, 
well known in our days as the Eudoxian Basilica, 
or of the Chains of St. Peter, she desired the 
chain of Rome and that of Jerusalem to be 
placed. These two chains are still to be seen in 
the said basilica, where they are kept in a very 
artistic costly reliquary. Neither of them, how- 

* From the acts of the Martyrdom of St. Alexander. 



Christ's Vicar on Earth. 71 

ever, is entire ; for such was the devotion toward 
these precious relics, that the Popes on different 
occasions gave some of their links to persons 
well deserving of the Church. The larger of 
the chains in this shrine has twenty-eight links, 
the last of which is fastened to a much larger 
one, which was riveted around the neck of St. 
Peter when he was led to martyrdom. The 
smaller chain has only five links, the last of 
which is in the shape of an S. These parts 
of the two chains are connected together so as 
to form one continuous chain. The conjunc- 
tion of the two chains happened as follows : 
When one of the chains of Jerusalem was 
brought to Rome by Eudoxia, the Sovereign 
Pontiff, accompanied by a multitude of the Chris- 
tians, desired to compare it with that of the 
Mamertine Prison ; but as soon as the two were 
brought into contact, they immediately became 
joined together so as to form as it were one 
chain made by the same workman. As this 
miraculous event occurred on the first day of 
August, it was ordered that the Feast of the 
Chains of St. Peter be celebrated through the 
whole Church on this day every year. And 
from this time the honor which had been 
given to pagan festivals on that day began to 
be given to the chains of Peter, which by 



72 Christ's Vicar on Earth. 

their touch, alone cured the infirm and drove 
out devils. For example, in the year of sal- 
vation 969, it happened that a certain Count 
of the Emperor Otho was seized by demoniacal 
possession, and tore himself with his teeth. By 
the Emperor's order he was brought to the Sov- 
ereign Pontiff John ; as soon as the holy chain 
touched the Count's neck, the impure spirit, rush- 
ing out from him, left him free, and from this 
time the devotion to the holy chains was propa- 
gated in the city of Rome. 

There is another memorial of St. Peter in the 
Church of St. Frances Pomana, on the Forum. 
" In the twelfth year of Nero, St. Peter, who 
had absented himself for a time, came back to 
Pome, and Paul, his most dear brother (II. Pet. 
iii. 1), came also to help him revive the Church, 
which was being cruelly wasted. Here both 
preached to the Gentiles the name of Jesus 
Christ, His sufferings for the sake of men, His 
death and His resurrection, of which they de- 
clared they were witnesses. They declared to 
all that there is no salvation save in His name. 
To the obstinate Jews they recalled to mind the 
prophecies of Jesus Christ regarding the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem, and pointed out their near 
fulfilment. Such was the eloquence and power 
of their preaching, that it penetrated the very 



Christ's Vicar on Earth. 73 

hearts of their hearers. An immense number of 
Jews embraced the faith, notwithstanding the 
persecutions of Nero and the trials prepared for 
them by their former coreligionists. In those 
terrible struggles the Church found more strength 
and glory\ She had disciples in the very pal- 
ace and family of Nero. These heroic souls, 
charmed with the beauty and holiness of the 
Gospel, had cheerfully embraced the Christian 
faith, regardless of the favors of the emperor, 
regardless of the loss of wealth and glory. Those 
conversions served only to increase the rage of 
Nero against the apostles. For some time he 
had resolved to put them to death, but he de- 
sired first to humble them and confound their 
doctrine. He well knew that the efficacy of 
their preaching was chiefly due to the miracles 
which they performed. He therefore thought 
it advisable to oppose the miracles of an impos- 
tor to those wrought by Peter and Paul. At that 
time Simon Magus, of Samaria (see Acts viii.), 
so captivated the Romans, and especially Nero, 
that they decreed to him divine honors. De- 
pending on the power of the demons whom he 
invoked, he caused it to be announced every- 
where that on a given day he would ascend into 
heaven, which was his dwelling and his kingdom. 
He at the same time challenged the apostles to imi- 



74 Christ's Vicar on Earth. 

tate him, or else to acknowledge him as the son of 
God and themselves as impostors. Peter and 
Paul, after fasting and praying, went bravely to 
the spot whence Simon was to ascend into heaven 
in presence of an immense multitude. Simon was 
indeed carried by the wicked spirits on high, in 
what appeared to be a carriage drawn by fiery 
horses ; but Peter and Paul, falling on their 
knees, prayed to Almighty God to confound 
this sacrilegious impostor, who attempted to rival 
God Himself, and to imitate the ascension of 
Jesus Christ. Their prayer was heard ; he sud- 
denly fell to the ground and broke his legs. He 
was taken up covered with blood, and carried to 
the upper apartment of a neighboring house ; 
but overcome with despair through the violence 
of his pains, and much more with shame and 
with rage, he threw himself out of the win- 
dow, and died on the spot. According to a 
pious tradition, the mark of St. Peter's knees 
remained engraved on the stone on which 
he had prayed. This stone has been set in the 
wall of the west transept of the Church of St. 
Frances. 

There is on the Appian Way a very ancient and 
interesting church named after SS. Nereus and 
Achilleus. There is connected with this venerable 
building a very touching legend which we love 



Christ's Vicar on Earth. 75 

to transcribe, because it shows how great was the 
veneration and affection of the Christians of 
Rome toward the prince of the apostles. This 
church was mentioned as early as the fifth cen- 
tury by the title of in fasciola. It was so 
named from the fact that Peter, passing by that 
part of the Appian Way, a bandage which cov- 
ered the sore caused by the wearing of the chain 
fell off his leg, and the church was erected on 
the spot in memory of the event. 

There are yet more striking memorials of -St. 
Peter in Rome. We mean the splendid monu- 
ments erected over his relics. The three prin- 
cipal basilicas of the city contain some of the 
relics of our apostle. The great Church of St. 
Paul, outside of the walls, contains a part of the 
body of St. Peter, together with a part of the 
body of St. Paul. In the very beautiful baldac- 
c/rlnOj in the middle of the transept of the Basilica 
of St. John Lateran, the head of St. Peter is en- 
closed in a bust, and that of St. Paul in another. 
I hardly need mention the great Basilica of St» 
Peter, a more admirable structure than which is 
not found in the world. Descriptions of this 
building, of its admirable proportions, of the 
works of art which it contains, are found in 
thousands of books, so I will merely say that the 
greater part of those who visit St. Peter's are 



76 Christ's Vicar on Earth. 

brought there by a desire to venerate the great 
apostle, and to recommend themselves to his 
prayers near the altar which covers his remains. 
We do not know of a shrine aronnd which more 
fervent prayers are poured out. Pilgrims come 
there from all parts of the world ; there was no 
time when men of all conditions and from all 
climes did not come here to pray for themselves, 
for their families, for the Church in general ; and 
all the bishops who have charge of a diocese are 
bound by the laws of the Church to come to 
Rome at stated times to pray for their dioce- 
sans, and to obtain for themselves a participation 
of the spirit of St. Peter by kneeling at his 
altar. 

The source of this devotion toward St. Peter 
is easily accounted for. Before St. Peter came 
to Rome, we know that he had preached the 
Gospel and founded churches in many parts of 
the world, but especially in Asia Minor, as the 
Acts of the Apostles have it, and in a great many 
cities of the same country not mentioned in the 
Gospel. Now, intercourse between those cities 
and Rome, which was then the capital and mis- 
tress of the world, was of daily occurrence. 
Those Christians of the East, coming to the city 
of the emperors, related the miracles performed 
by Peter, and the doctrine which he taught 



Christ's Vicar on Earth. 77 

among them. They spoke of the dead which he 
raised to life, of the sick and demoniacs who 
were cured by his mere shadow. Some of them 
had heard* him preach in Jerusalem on the 
Day of Pentecost ; this they related in Rome, 
and averred that he was the vicar of Him wdiose 
doctrine he preached. From the East Peter had 
come to the West. He had made Rome the seat 
of his power ; from this city he had established 
churches in Italy, Sicily, the Gauls, Spain, and 
some say that he went to England. He had 
lived twenty-five years in Rome, devoting him- 
self to the care of the poor, of the afflicted, 
as well as of the rich. Rome remembered the 
kindness of his heart, his penitential spirit, as 
also his power. Thousands of them had known 
him to defeat Simon the Magician by his prayer ; 
but let us never forget it — the Christians of that 
day knew of the promises made to him by his 
Master : " Thou art Peter (that is, a rock), and 
upon this rock I will build My Church." " Feed 
My lambs ; feed My sheep." " I have prayed 
for thee, that thy faith fail not, and thou being 
once converted, confirm thy brethren." 

Oh, there is no question about it, the early 
Christians, and those who came after them, ven- 
erated St, Peter as the vicar of Jesus Christ and 
the head of the Church, and this they did with 



78 Christ's Vicar on Earth. 

sentiments of faith and gratitude. To whom 
else could they have gone ? He had the words 
of eternal life in virtue of the promise of the 
Good Shepherd, and blessed are we who are 
governed by one who has succeeded to his office 
and power. 



CHAPTER X. 

PETER'S SUCCESSORS.— THEIR POWER AND 
PREROGATIVES. 

Institution of the Papacy, — Supremacy of Honor and 
Jurisdiction, — Papal Infallibility, 

The thousands of pilgrims who come to Rome 
to venerate St. Peter and pray over his tomb 
have another object also in view. They come to 
Rome to venerate the Pope, whom they believe 
to be the successor of Peter. 

The eternal Pastor and Shepherd of our souls, 
in order to continue for all time the life-giving 
work of His redemption, determined to build up 
the holy Church, wherein, as in the house of the 
living God, all who believe might be united in 
the bond of one faith and one charity. Where- 
fore, before He entered into His glory, He 
prayed unto the Father, not for the apostles only, 
but for those also who, through their preaching, 
should come to believe in Him, that all might 
be one, even as He, the Son, and the Father are 
one (John xvii. 21). As then He sent the apos- 
tles whom He had chosen to Himself from the 



80 Peter's Successors. 

world, as He Himself had been sent by the 
Father, so He willed that there should ever be 
pastors and teachers in His Church to the end of 
the world; and in order that the episcopate 
also might be one and undivided, and that by 
means of a closely united priesthood the multi- 
tude of the faithful might be kept secure in the 
oneness of faith and communion, He set blessed 
Peter over the rest of the apostles, and fixed in 
him the abiding principle of this twofold unity 
and its visible foundation, in the strength of 
which the everlasting temple should rise, and 
the Church in the firmness of that faith should 
lift up her majestic front to heaven. Peter had 
been appointed the prince of all the apostles, the 
visible head of the Church militant, and received 
directly and immediately from Our Lord Jesus 
Christ not only a primacy of honor, but a true 
and proper jurisdiction (see the preceding chap- 
ter). 

That primacy of honor and jurisdiction of 
Blessed Peter is perpetual in the Roman Pon- 
tiffs^ for " that which the Prince of shepherds 
and great Shepherd of the sheep, Jesus Christ 
Our Lord," established in the person of the bless- 
ed apostle Peter, to secure the perpetual welfare 
and lasting good of the Church, must, by the 
same institution, necessarily remain unceasingly 



Peter's Sttccessors. 81 

in the Church, which, being founded upon the 
rock, will stand firm to the end of the world. 
For none can doubt, and it is known to all ages, 
that the holy and blessed Peter, the prince and 
chief of the apostles, the pillar of the faith and 
foundation of the Catholic Church, received the 
keys of the kingdom from Our Lord Jesus Christ, 
the Saviour and Redeemer of mankind, and 
lives, presides, and judges to this day, and always 
in his successors, the bishops of the Holy See of 
Rome, which was founded by him and conse- 
crated by his blood. 

As to the natitre of this jurisdiction, it ex- 
tends not only to matters of faith and morals, 
but also to those which pertain to the discipline 
and government of the Church throughout the 
world, so that the Church of Christ may be one 
flock under one supreme pastor, through the pres- 
ervation of unity, both of communion and of 
profession of the same faith of the Roman Pon- 
tiff. 

The Pope teaches infallibly. This follows 
clearly from the promises made by Our Lord to 
St. Peter, and in his person to his successors : 
Feed My lambs / feed My sheep. I have prayed 
for thee, that thy faith fail not. A pope is not 
impeccable ; like other men, he may violate the 
law of God, as St. Peter did before he succeeded 



82 Peter's Successors. 

to Jesus Christ as head of the Church, though his 
sin was one of frailty, not a sin against faith ; but 
when addressing the universal Church in virtue 
of his apostolical office, regarding matters of 
faith and morals, he cannot but be infallible, in 
virtue of the divine assistance which was prom- 
ised to him (Vatican Council). 



CHAPTER XL 

THE POPE IS NOT THE GOOD SHEPHERD.— JESUS 
CHRIST IS THE GOOD SHEPHERD. 

St. Peter himself and the Popes Teach this. 

The Sovereign Pontiff is indeed a good shep- 
herd, but not the Good Shepherd. Blessed Peter 
was the first chosen by Christ Himself, nay, com- 
manded by Him to govern the Church — " Feed 
My lambs, feed My sheep ;" but it never entered 
into his head to represent himself as the source 
of grace and authority; he never invited his 
spiritual children to address their prayers to him ; 
but he styled himself in his letters as the ser- 
vant and apostle of Christ. Peter, like all the 
apostles, taught that he was an ambassador of 
Christ. His only concern was to teach the doc- 
trine of his Master, and point out the examples 
He had left to mankind ; and in the last chapter 
of his first epistle, he has the following re- 
markable passage : " The presbyters, therefore, 
who are among you, I beseech, as a fellow-pres- 
byter and witness of the sufferings of Christ, as 
also a partaker of the glory which is to be re- 

83 



84 The Pope Not the Good Shepherd. 

yealed : Feed the flock of God which is among 
yon, overseeing not by constraint, but willingly, 
according to God ; not for filthy lucre, but cheer- 
fully. Nor as lording it over the clergy ; but 
becoming a pattern of the flock from the heart ; 
and when the chief Shepherd will appear, you 
shall receive an unfading crown of glory" (I. 
Pet. v. 1-3). Here we see that blessed Peter 
acknowledges a chief Shepherd who is not him- 
self ; the flock over which the bishops pre- 
sided is the flock of God ; yet Peter acts as hav- 
ing power, and teaches the other bishops how 
they should conduct themselves toward their 
flocks. 

The Pope continues to act as blessed Peter 
did ; he acknowledges himself to be the servant 
of the servants of God / he declares that the 
power which he enjoys was granted to him ; yet 
he speaks as one whose power is supreme, uni- 
versal over the Church ; he acts as one whose sa- 
cred duty is to feed the whole flock, for that was 
the order of the Master — Feed My lambs, feed 
My sheep. 

As to the flock over which he presides — a flock 
which is scattered over the whole world — they do 
not address their prayers to the Pope, but they 
pray for the Pope, and their prayers for his wel- 
fare are as earnest and continuous as were the 



Tlie Pope Not the Good Shepherd. 85 

prayers of the Church in Jerusalem for St. Peter, 
when he was cast into prison by Herod. u O 
God, the pastor and ruler of all the faithful, 
look down in Thy mercy upon Thy servant 
[Leo], whom Thou hast appointed to preside over 
Thy Church, and grant, we beseech Thee, that 
both by word and example he may edify all those 
who are under his charge, so that, with the flock 
intrusted to him, he may arrive at length unto 
life everlasting, through Our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Amen." Such is the prayer which the Church, 
especially through her priests, recites every day 
for the vicar of Christ. 

Although the Pope is not the Christ, the Good 
Shepherd, in person, we are deeply convinced of 
our obligation to obey him, and this we do cheer- 
fully, not only when he commands, but also 
when he merely recommends — when, for instance, 
he desires us to recite the rosary during the 
month of October, or a daily prayer before an 
image of the Holy Family. The sheep of Christ 
know the voice of the shepherd appointed by 
the chief Shepherd, and this our forefathers in 
the faith were also wont to do. " Obey your 
prelates, and be subject to them ; for they watch 
as having to give account for your souls, that 
they may do this with joy and not grieving, 
for this is not profitable for you" (Heb. xiii. 17). 



86 The Pope Not the Good Shepherd. 

Unfortunate are those who knowingly reject 
the authority of him whom Jesus Christ wills 
them to obey. Among all nations, they who in- 
sult an ambassador insult the government which 
he represents. Of this we have an example in 
the very days of King David : 

" And it came to pass after this, that the king 
of the children of Ammon died, and Hanon his 
son reigned in his stead. 

" And David said : I will show kindness to 
Hanon the son of Naas, as his father showed 
kindness to me. So David sent his servants to 
comfort him for the death of his father. But 
when the servants of David were come into the 
land of the children of Ammon, 

" The princes of the children of Ammon said 
to Hanon their lord : Thinkest thou that for 
the honor of thy father, David hath sent com- 
forters to thee, and hath not David rather sent 
his servants to thee to search, and spy into the 
city, and overthrow it ? 

" Wherefore Hanon took the servants of Da- 
vid, and shaved off the one half of their beards, 
and cut away half of their garments, and sent 
them away. 

" When this was told David, he sent to meet 
them : for the men were sadly put to confusion, 
and David commanded them, saying : Stay at 



The Pope Not the Good Shepherd. 87 

Jericho, till your beards be grown, and then re- 
turn" (II. Kings x.). 

This insult to the representatives of the King 
of Jerusalem was the cause of a bloody war be- 
tween David and the Ammonites. " Go and 
teach all nations. He that heareth you, heareth 
Me ; he that despiseth you, despiseth Me." 



CHAPTER XII. 

JESUS CHRIST IS MY SHEPHERD. 

St. Paul. — The Magnificat. — "Dominus regit me, et 
nihil mihi deerit. ' ' 

Devout souls love to remember and return 
thanks to God for the blessings which He has con- 
ferred upon them individually. St. Paul exclaims, 
" Christ loved me, and gave Himself up for me." 
The most holy Yirgin sings out in presence of 
Elizabeth, " My soul doth magnify the Lord, and 
my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Be- 
cause He hath regarded the humility of His hand- 
maid ; for behold from henceforth all generations 
shall call me blessed. Because He that is mighty 
hath done great things to me, and holy is His 
name" (Luke i. 47-49). When Our Lord Jesus 
Christ was on earth, He said of Himself, " Blessed 
are the eyes which see what you see, and the ears 
which hear what you hear." 

But the Good Shepherd was not then pres- 
ent in every place at the same time ; and al- 
though He ceased not to travel through the whole 
country and to preach everywhere, His blessed 



Jesus Christ is my Shepherd. 89 

voice was heard comparatively by few only ; 
few only of the sick were visited or cured by 
Him, and the miraculous multiplication of loaves 
in the desert benefited a few thousands only. 
Not so, however, in the Church, where the Good 
Shepherd is represented by the Pope. Every 
soul in the Church seems to be the sole object of 
the solicitude of the Good Shepherd, so that 
each of us may also exclaim, Jesus Christ loved 
me, or, rather, Jesus Christ loves me. Was there 
in the past, is there in the present, a single mo- 
ment when we received not of Him some token 
of His love and providence ? 

When David, pursued by Saul, had withdrawn 
to the desert of Ziph, the Lord protected him 
amid dangers, provided him abundantly with 
the necessaries of lif e, confirmed him in the hope 
of becoming king over all Israel, and of dwell- 
ing in the house of God unto length of days. 
During the time of his exile he composed the 
following admirable psalm, which is a touching 
expression of the sentiments which should ani- 
mate the members of the Church of Jesus Christ, 
the Good Shepherd. 

" The Lord ruleth me, and I shall want nothing. 

" He hath set me in a place of pasture. 

" He hath brought me up on the water of re- 
freshment. 



90 Jesus Christ is my Shepherd. 

" He hath converted my soul. 

" He hath led me on the paths of justice, for 
His own name's sake. 

" For though I should walk in the midst of 
the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for Thou 
art with me. 

" Thy rod and Thy staff : they have comforted 
me. 

u Thou hast prepared a table before me, against 
them that afflict me. 

H Thou hast anointed my head with oil ; and 
my chalice which inebriateth me how goodly is 
it! 

" And Thy mercy will follow me all the days 
of my life : 

" And that I may dwell in the house of the 
Lord, unto length of days" (Ps. xxii.). 

^Ve think it unnecessary to make any com- 
ment upon this admirable psalm. Let us rather 
recall to mind the graces of all kinds we received 
in the past — Baptism, Confirmation, the Holy 
Eucharist, the hope of a glorious and immortal 
crown in heaven. The Good Shepherd ruleih 
me j and I shall want nothing. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE YOUNG. 

The Young Loved by Jesus Christ. — Care of the 
Church for the Young. 

" Suffer the little children to come to Me, and 
forbid them not." These are sweet words, and 
we connect them with the actions of Jesus Christ, 
who embraced and blessed the children. All 
men love young children ; they are the delight, 
the hope of their parents. There is something 
so charming in their features, in their simplicity, 
in their affection toward their parents. Our 
Lord, however, loved them on more exalted 
grounds. He considered them as His creatures, 
particularly dear to Him on account of their in- 
nocence, and on this account entitled to the 
kingdom of heaven, when they had received 
holy baptism. So 'dear are they to the Good 
Shepherd that He said twice to St. Peter, " Feed 
My lambs" before commanding him to feed His 
sheep. What parent, if neglectful of the soul of 
his children, should not tremble at the warning, 
" See that you despise not one of these little ones ; 

91 



92 The Good Shepherd and the Young. 

for I say to you that their angels in heaven al- 
ways see the face of My Father, who is in heaven. 
It is not the will of My Father that one of them 
should perish." The Church has inherited the 
spirit of her Founder. If you, dear reader, have 
had the good fortune to have a good Christian 
mother, you may have heard her say that before 
you were born she had often placed the fruit of 
her womb under the protection of Mary, and re- 
ceived Communion for you when the day of 
your birth was near at hand. How anxious she 
was to have you baptized immediately after your 
nativity, how careful when you were yet an in- 
fant to trace the sign of the cross on your fore- 
head, to sprinkle you with holy water, to call up- 
on your good angel to protect you ! It is the 
Church of the Good Shepherd which taught 
her thus to sanctify your soul. But what of the 
Church herself, how does she treat the young ? 
It is in a house of the Good Shepherd, of Him 
who gave His life for His flock, that she receives 
the new-born infant. In the name of the Good 
Shepherd she took possession of you by signing 
all your senses with the sign of the Crucified. The 
child has become a member of the flock by 
baptism ; he will henceforth be guided by vicars of 
the chief Pastor ; his name is written in the book 
of heaven, and the keys of Peter will open for 



Tlie Good Shepherd and the Young. 93 

him the urates of Paradise if he be faithful to lead 
a holy life. 

We know nothing so admirable as the action 
of a pious mother teaching her young children to 
bless themselves, to lisp the names of Jesus and 
Mary, speaking to them of God the Creator, of 
Jesus Christ the Redeemer. But all the young 
have not the care of a mother ; many of them 
are left orphans. God, the Father of the orphan, 
communicates His spirit to souls who wish to 
glorify Him. They leave their father and moth- 
er, not to cleave to a husband or a wife, but to 
make themselves the fathers or mothers of the 
poor infant. Enter a Catholic orphan asylum, 
and see if the orphans are not cared for there much 
better than they would in many instances have 
been by their natural parents! The writer of 
these lines has often been delighted to hear these 
forlorn ones recite the Lord's Prayer, the Hail 
Mary, and to see them bless themselves with so 
much devotion ; and then, who has not admired 
how naturally they take to the love of the Good 
Shepherd by beholding His pictures, especially 
those of the Infant of Bethlehem or the Crucified 
on Calvary ? "What is the source of that im- 
mense interest of the Church toward the young, 
if it be not the heart of Him who said, " Suffer 
the little children to come to Me"? If from the 



94 The Good Shepherd and the Young, 

family hearth, from the orphan home, you pass 
to a parish church, there you shall find that the 
work of feeding the lambs is going on. Who is 
he who here represents the Good Shepherd ? He 
is one who is in communion with the Pope, other- 
wise the doctrine which he teaches would not be 
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But who is he % The 
poor parish priest, who spends hours, days, weeks, 
and months in teaching children. He may be a 
man of noble family, one who had occupied im- 
portant functions in the State ; he may be a writer 
of great excellence ; but with that all he will not, 
he cannot leave the duty of teaching the chil- 
dren committed to his care ; for they ask for 
bread, and if he leaves them there will be no one 
to give it to them. The pastor of souls takes 
heed not to forget the sentence which the Lord 
will pronounce on general judgment day — " I 
was hungry, you gave Me not to eat. Depart 
from Me." This good shepherd prepares care- 
fully the lessons he must give to the young ; he 
makes himself little with the little ones, he teach- 
es them all that Christ had commanded His 
apostles to teach about God, about Jesus Christ, 
about their own souls, and the commandments 
they are bound to observe. When the time ap- 
proaches on which the children will partake of 
Holy Communion, the solicitude of the pastor 



Tli e Good Shepherd and the Young. 95 

increases ; he purifies their souls in the sacra- 
ment of Penance, and then a bishop will come to 
confer on them the sacrament of Confirma- 
tion, and the new soldiers of Christ, fully in- 
structed in the doctrine of Jesus Christ, and 
strengthened with His grace through the sacra- 
ments, may now go out into the world, well pre- 
pared to resist the temptations they will find there. 
In connection with this subject, we beg the reader 
to observe that this work of instructing the chil- 
dren goes on in the whole world. We see it real- 
ized in our country, where there are regular pas- 
tors ; we see it going on among many barbarous 
countries, where Catholic missionaries rescue poor 
children forsaken by their parents, and baptize 
thousands of them every year. 

This may be the place to mention another 
point — a point quite important in the instruction 
of the young — and it is this, that we are forbidden 
to place in their hands books condemned by the 
Church, for indiscriminate reading would infalli- 
bly lead to the losing of faith or corruption of 
morals. 



OHAPTEE XIV. 

THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE WORLD. 

"Dominator Terra." — The Vatican Council. — Psalm 
Ixxi. — "Dominabitur a mari ad mare.'* 

The prophets who foretold of the Messias 
spoke of Him as one who was to " rule the world" 
" in whom all the nations of the earth were to be 
blessed/' and Jesns Christ Himself said to the 
twelve, " going through the whole world, teach 
all nations." It has been our good fortune to be 
in Rome on some occasions when the Holy Father 
had invited or ordered all the bishops of the 
world to come to the Holy City on the occurrence 
of some important celebration. We remember 
particularly the great Yatican Council, which 
lasted from December 8th, 1869, to the middle of 
July, 1870. There were as many as seven hundred 
and fifty at one of the meetings. Each public 
session, presided over by the legates of the Pope, 
began by the recitation of the Creed. The mem- 
bers of this august council had come from all 
parts of the world ; they represented all the Cath- 
olics of the world. Many of them were confess- 



The Good Shepherd and the World. 97 

ors of the faith, many had left all things and had 
gone to distant regions, where they spoke tongues 
hitherto unknown to them ; but all without hesi- 
tation professed aloud the doctrine taught by the 
twelve, and declared their readiness to believe 
every doctrine that would be defined by the 
Church, for such is the meaning of the words I be- 
lieve in the Catholic Church. How touching it 
was to see the prelates kneel around the tomb of 
St. Peter, after adoring the Blessed Sacrament ! 
How full were their hearts when they bid adieu to 
the prince of pastors, and knelt to receive his bless- 
ing ! To almost all the fathers of the Yatican 
Council the blessing of Pius IX. was the last 
blessing they received at the hands of a Pope ; 
they went back to their respective fields of 
action. Many of them died very far away from 
the land of their birth, but they kept the faith of 
the Good Shepherd to the end ; they preserved it 
among their flocks or implanted it in countries 
where the cross had never been seen. They have 
gone to the chief Shepherd to receive an unfading 
crown of glory. That which happened at the 
Yatican Council will continue to the end of time. 
There will always be in the Church a supreme 
pastor, representing the Chief of pastors, and his 
teaching will always be infallible. If you, dear 
reader, have any doubt regarding the communion 



98 The Good Shepherd and the World. 

of Catholics with the Pope, go to Rome, and there 
you will see every day men from every part of 
the world coming to pay their respects to and re 
ceive the blessing of the Vicar of Jesus Christ. 
But it is not necessary to go so far in order to be 
convinced of the catholicity of the Church of 
which the Sovereign Pontiff is the head. In 
the Church of Jesus Christ there is one body and 
one spirit, as they are called in one hope of their 
calling * one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one 
God and Father of all, ... because there is one 
head. He who died on the cross has ascended into 
heaven, is no longer visible among us ; but His 
successor is visible, and he continues, as the Lord 
Jesus did, "to give some apostles, and some 
prophets, and some evangelists, and others pastors 
and teachers : for the perfecting of the saints, for 
the work of the ministry, for the building up of 
the body of Christ, until we all meet in the unity 
of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of 
man, . . . that we may no more be children tossed 
to and fro, and carried about with every wind of 
doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craft according 
to the contrivance of error" (Eph. iv. 11-14). 

When we think of past and present evidences 
of the extent of the spiritual power of the 
Sovereign Pontiff, we recall to mind the prophetic 
language of King David in the seventy-first 



TJie Good Shepherd and the World. 99 

Psalm concerning the Messias : " He shall judge 
the poor of the people, and He shall save the 
children of the poor, and He shall humble the 
oppressor. And He shall continue with the sun, 
and before the moon, throughout all genera- 
tions. ... In His days shall justice spring up, and 
abundance of peace, till the moon be taken away. 
And He shall rule from sea to sea, and from the 
river unto the end of the earth. Before Him the 
Ethiopians shall fall down, and His enemies shall 
lick the ground. The kings of Tharsis and the 
islands shall offer presents, the kings of the Ara- 
bians and of Saba shall bring gifts, and all kings 
of the earth shall adore Him, all nations shall 
serve Him. . . . Let His name be blessed for- 
evermore ; His name continues before the sun. 
And in Him shall all the tribes of the earth be 
blessed, all nations shall magnify Him. Blessed 
be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone doth 
wonderful things. And blessed be the name of 
His majesty forever ; and the whole earth shall 
be filled with His majesty. So be it. So be it." 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE DIOCESE. 

The Pope Governs the World, Bishops a Diocese. — 
Consecration of a Bishop. — Origin, Nature, and 
Duties of the Bishop' s Office. 

As the Sovereign Pontiff, the chief represen- 
tative of the great Shepherd of the flock, has juris- 
diction over and governs the world, so bishops 
under him and in communion with him govern 
the districts assigned to them by him. There 
are many now living in the United States who 
remember how few Catholics there were in the 
country at the beginning of the nineteenth 
century. There was then only one bishop, who 
resided in Baltimore, and some ten years elapsed 
before other sees were established. The number 
of episcopal sees and of ecclesiastical provinces 
has now multiplied in a most remarkable manner, 
yet there has been no schism in the Church of the 
United States ; there is among us unity of faith 
and of discipline. There is among the members 
of the hierarchy that peace and harmony which 
Jesus Christ asked for and left to His disciples — 

100 



The Good Shepherd and the Diocese. 101 

My peace I give you. The few clouds which 
appeared were soon dispersed by the action of the 
successor of Peter, and the sheep of the fold have 
wanted nothing that was needful for their sancti- 
fication. Whence is this ? " This is the Lord's 
doing, and it is wonderful in our eyes" (Ps. 
cxvii. 23). 

The office of bishop in the Church is the most 
important next to that of the Pope. The follow- 
ing instruction regarding the ceremonies of a 
bishop's consecration will throw much light on 
the origin, the nature, and the duties of the epis- 
copal office. 

AX INSTRUCTION CONCERNING THE ORIGIN, NATURE, 
AND EFFECTS OF AN EPISCOPAL CONSECRATION. 

In order to understand the rite of an episcopal 
consecration, we have to go back to the days of 
Jesus Christ, the founder of the Church and of 
all that belongs to its administration and the sanc- 
tification of her children. The pillars and the 
rulers of His Church were the apostles. How did 
Our Lord conduct Himself toward them ? Such 
shall be the conduct of the Church toward the 
bishops destined to continue their work. 

Some years ago we visited near the city of 
Tiberias, in Galilee, the famous mountain of the 



102 The Good Shepherd and the Diocese. 

Beatitudes. At the beginning of His public life, 
the Son of God had gone up the highest point of 
that mountain and had passed the night in the 
prayer of God. "When the morning had come 
the mountain was surrounded with an immense 
multitude, among whom were many of His dis- 
ciples. Coming down to them, He called twelve 
of them by name, whom He named apostles. 
The first of these was Simon son of Jona, whom 
He surnamed Peter, whom, near the same spot 
on the lake, He commanded to feed the lambs 
and the sheep, and who was ever afterward 
acknowledged to be the head of the apostolic 
body. 

"Why had He chosen them ? That they might go 
and teach the Gospel. But they were not as yet 
qualified to do this work, and He Himself would 
be their model and their teacher. He would 
have them follow Him everywhere, to be wit- 
nesses of His miracles, of His private life ; He 
explained to them privately what He had taught 
the people in parables. 

What was the work He had assigned to them ? 
That they might teach men in the whole world to 
serve God ; that they might apply to men the 
merits of His passion. 

This was a task far above the capacity of these 
twelve ignorant fishermen. But He would not 



The Good Shepherd and the Diocese. 103 

leave them orphcms. He was to be with them all 
days, until the consummation of the world. He 
promised to send them the Holy Ghost, who 
would teach them all truth and suggest to 
them all things whatsoever lie had commanded 
them. 

The Spirit of God did really come down upon 
the apostles, and they immediately began to speak. 
God gave power to their words, and the face of 
the world was renewed through their preach- 
ing. 

Upwards of 1800 years have elapsed since the 
Lord Jesus Christ chose the apostles and qualified 
them to teach and sanctify men, but He has 
through that lapse of time sent successors to this 
chosen band, invested with the same powers, and 
filled with the same light and strength conferred 
upon the apostles by the Holy Spirit. 

Let us enter a cathedral church on the day of 
the consecration of a bishop. We see here a 
great multitude of faithful people come from all 
parts of the diocese, as they had come from 
Judea, Jerusalem, and the sea-coast of Tyre and 
Sidon to hear Our Lord on the mountain, and be 
healed from their diseases. All those present in 
the church are anxious to see their bishop, the 
father of their souls, the ruler of their diocese. 

The consecrating archbishop or bishop has 



104 The Good Shepherd and the Diocese. 

been duly authorized to perform the ceremony. 
But what of the bishop-elect ? Has he come here 
as an intruder ? Not so. Whenever a see becomes 
vacant, or a coadjutor is desired to help a super- 
annuated bishop, the eyes of all Catholics turn to 
Rome, to the successor of Peter, just as the dis- 
ciples on the mountain were attentive to the voice 
of Jesus Christ. 

The first ceremony in the rite of a bishop's 
consecration is extremely impressive. The oldest 
of the assistant bishops addresses himself to the 
consecrator, and says aloud : Most Reverend 
Father, our holy Mother, the Catholic Church, 
asks that you promote this priest here present to 
the burden of the episcopate. To this the afore- 
said consecrator replies, Have you an apostolical 
mandate ? 

The senior assistant replies, We have it. If 
any priest would suffer himself to be consecrated 
without due authority from the Pope, both him- 
self and the consecrator would be suspended. 

ISTow, however, knowing that the appointment 
comes from Rome, the consecrator and all the 
assembly rejoice, for this is the work of God. 
The Pope is the vicegerent of Christ, the bishop- 
elect is really the elect of God. The hearts of 
all are filled with emotion when they hear that 
Jesus Christ has given them a father and guide. 



The Good Shepherd and the Diocese. 105 

The bishop-elect must not only receive his 
mission from Rome, lie must also remain united 
with and obedient to the Sovereign Pontiff ; for 
to separate from the See of Peter would be spirit- 
ual death to himself and to his diocesans. He 
therefore swears fidelity to the successor of Peter, 
promises to visit the limina apostolorum every 
tenth year, and to give to the Pope a full account 
of his administration. He therefore recites the 
oath on his knees. 

The priest who is promoted to the episcopal 
office must be well informed of all that belongs 
to that office. The twelve apostles had been 
taught three whole years by Jesus Christ Him- 
self. The bishop-elect could not have enjoyed 
this privilege ; but his preparation with us for the 
priesthood alone lasts about twelve years, and 
after his ordination he continues to acquire more 
ecclesiastical knowledge by constant study, and 
sometimes by teaching in colleges or seminaries. 
The consecrating prelate does, however, aloud, 
question him concerning the doctrines of the 
Church, and his determination to teach them in 
their purity, and to observe all the obligations of 
his office. 

Through the preceding examination the conse- 
crating prelate has convinced himself that the 
candidate has been duly elected, and is worthy 



106 The Good Shepherd and the Diocese. 

to receive consecration. Nothing more can be 
asked of him. The Church has fulfilled the di- 
rection of the great Apostle, not to impose hands 
on any one lightly. But if Christ spent the night 
in prayer before calling the apostles by name ; if 
the apostles themselves spent ten days in prepa- 
ration to receive the Holy Ghost, how much more 
earnestly should the Church give herself to prayer 
before imposing hands on the new elect ! The 
fast of the ember days was instituted as a means 
to obtain fervent ministers of the altar, but for 
the consecration of one who is to be the ruler of 
a diocese special prayers and fasts are to be offered 
to God. 

The Mass begins ; the Lord Jesus Christ Him- 
self will soon be present on the altar in the state of 
victim. To whom should we go on this solemn 
occasion save to Him who is the light of the 
world and the very fountain of life ? 

Shortly after the beginning of the Mass, there 
is performed a ceremony with draws tears from 
many eyes. It is the prostration of the bishop- 
elect, and the recitation of the Litany of Saints. 

Let us for an instant turn our eyes from 
the bishop-elect and the consecrating prelate. 
Around or near the altar I see young levites, 
venerable priests, members of the regular clergy. 
All these seem to say to the bishop-elect, Thou 



The Good Shepherd and the Diocese. 107 

art to he our father, our guide, and our judge. 
Thou art lie who will interpret for us the words 
of the Scripture, the meaning of the sacred can- 
ons ; to thee it will belong to settle controverted 
points of discipline. At thy hands we are to re- 
ceive ordination. To thee will belong to regu- 
late and preserve in due order all that pertains to 
the altar and its sacrifice. To thee will belong 
the duty of seeing to the proper administration 
of the sacraments. Oh, may the Spirit of God 
come down upon thee, and the virtue of the Most 
High overshadow thee ! 

The cathedral church on the day of a conse- 
cration is filled with representatives, not of the 
episcopal city alone, but from all parts of the 
diocese. Joy, gratitude to God, are the senti- 
ments which prevail in all hearts. Theirs are the 
feelings of Zachary when he exclaimed : " Bless- 
ed he the Lord God of Israel, because lie hath 
visited and %orought the redemption of His 
peopled 

Henceforth the children will be provided with 
the doctrine and the bread that came down from 
heaven ; henceforth sinners will be reclaimed ; 
henceforth pure hands and hearts will offer the 
sacrifice at the altar ; henceforth the word of 
God will be preached to all in its purity, the sick 
and the dying will be comforted in their distress, 



108 The Good Shepherd and the Diocese. 

and all will be encouraged to follow Jesus Christ 
on earth, that they may share His glory in heaven. 

At this juncture, as the act of the episcopal 
consecration is near at hand, the consecrating 
prelate says to the elect, summing up, as it were, 
all the duties of his office : 

"It is the duty of a bishop to judge, to inter- 
pret, to consecrate, to ordain, to offer, and to 
confirm" 

All are now invited to pray for the elect, all 
fall down on their knees, both in the chancel and 
in the body of the church. As to the bishop- 
elect, thunderstruck as it were at the sight of the 
burden to be soon placed upon his shoulders, he 
prostrates himself on the floor, while the Litany 
of Saints is recited or sung. 

The sight of the bishop prostrate on the floor, 
the voices of the multitude imploring the mercy 
of God and the intercession of the saints, are a 
striking figure of the Church. All the members 
of this assembly are members of Jesus Christ by 
baptism ; they all unite their prayers that the 
blessing of God may come down upon one who 
is to guide them to the house of God, and to 
His saints in heaven. 

The consecrating prelate and the two assistant 
bishops were on their knees during the singing 
or reciting of the Litany, but the consecrator 



The Good Shepherd and the Diocese. 109 

rises immediately before the final invocation, and 
turning toward the elect, still prostrate, with the 
mitre and crozier, sings or says aloud : 
" That Thou vouchsafe to bless this elect" 
Res. " We beseech Thee to hear us." 
" That Thou vouchsafe to bless cmcl sanctify 
this elect." 

Res. " We beseech Thee to hear us." 
" That Thou vouchsafe to bless, to sanctify, 
and to consecrate this elect." 

Res. " We beseech Thee to hear us." 
The consecrator again prostrates himself, and 
the Litany continues to the end. 

THE EPISCOPAL CONSECRATION. 

The consecrating bishop rises with the two as- 
sistant prelates. Each touches with both hands the 
head of the elect, and says, Receive the Holy Ghost. 

At the pronouncing of those words with the 
imposition of the hands, the elect has received 
the episcopal character. He is forever a bishop 
of the Church. Forever, for time and eternity. 



THE BISHOP S HEAD. 

Shortly after the words of the consecration 
have been pronounced, we behold a ceremony 
which reminds us of the Day of Pentecost. 



110 The Good Shepherd and the Diocese. 

The consecrating bishop, extending his hands 
before his breast, has begun to sing an admirable 
preface, which he soon interrupts to begin the 
hymn, " Come, Holy Ghost, Creator, come" 

The apostles had been not only called, but 
consecrated before the days of Pentecost; but 
they had need of a special indwelling of that 
Holy Spirit of light and of strength before leav- 
ing Jerusalem ; and thus the new bishop had 
received, previous to his consecration, the power 
to say Mass, to forgive sins, etc. ; but though 
grace was annexed to the consecration, lie is still 
much in need of a special grace of the Holy 
Spirit, both for his own sanctification and that 
of his diocesans. This is the reason why the 
bishop begins, and the chanters continue, the 
solemn invocation to the Holv Ghost. 

At this juncture the consecrator rises, and sits 
on the faldstool before the middle of the altar ; 
then he dips the thumb of his right hand in the 
holy chrism, and anoints the head of the bishop- 
elect, saying, in the mean time : " May thy head 
he anointed and consecrated by the heavenly 
benediction in the pontifical order, in the name 
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost. Amen. Peace be with thee" 

When we see the consecrated bishop crowned, 
as it were, with a halo of glory, we remember 



Tfie Good Shepherd and the Diocese. Ill 

that he is more than a king or a prophet. He is 
the chief representative of Jesus Christ, the 
Anointed of God, the King of ages, immortal, 
invisible. 

At the sight of her newly-appointed bishop, 
the Church endeavors to express her joy and 
gratitude in such language as the following : 
" May constant faith, pure love, sincere piety 
abound in him. May his feet by Thy gift be 
beautiful for announcing the glad tidings of 
peace, for announcing the glad tidings of Thy 
good things. Let him who shall curse him him- 
self be curse-d, and let him who shall bless him 
be filled with blessings. Be Thou his authority, 
be Thou his power, be Thou his strength. Mul- 
tiply upon him Thy blessings and Thy grace, so 
that by Thy gift he may be fitted for always ob- 
taining Thy mercy, and by Thy grace may be 
faithful. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ." 

ANOINTING OF THE BISHOP^ HANDS. 

AV~hen a deacon is ordained priest, the bishop 
anoints his hands, which are to touch the sacred 
Eucharist. But the hands of the bishop are des- 
tined to be employed in everything belonging to 
the holy sacraments, such as the altar, the sacred 
vessels, the ordination of priests, the sacrament 
of Confirmation. As these hands of the anointed 



112 The Good Shepherd and the Diocese, 

of God are destined to perform more sacred 
functions than those of the priest, they also 
should have a special consecration. Behold the 
form of this consecration : " May these hands 
he anointed with the sanctified oil and the chrism 
of sanctification ! As Samuel anointed David 
to he king and prophet, so may they he anointed 
and consecrated, in the name of God the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. . . . 
May God and the Father of Our Lord Jesus 
Christ, who has Himself willed to elevate thee to 
the dignity of the episcopate, hedew with chrism, 
. . . and make thee fruitful with the rich- 
ness of spiritual benediction. Whatsoever you 
shall hless, may it he hlessed, and whatsoever yoio 
shall sanctify, may it he sanctified y and may the 
imposition of this consecrated hand or thumb he 
profitable in all things unto salvation. Amen" 

THE PASTORAL STAFF. 

The staff in the hands of an old man is the 
support of his weakness. The pastoral staff or 
crozier, which the consecrator now blesses, is also 
a pledge of the protection of God over the 
anointed. It also reminds the new prelate that 
he is a pastor not for himself, but for the people, 
that his duty shall be to reclaim sinners, and to 
encourage every good. The crozier of any 



The Good Shepherd and the Diocese. 113 

bishop who lias a diocese may be really called 
the staff of Jesus, for He, the Prince of pastors, 
lias given him the command : Feed My sheep. 
Be thou a follower of Me, who am the Good 
SJupherd. 

OTHER INSIGNIA. 

These are the ring, an emblem of fidelity, 
which is blessed and put on the bishop's finger 
with proper prayers ; the mitre, an ornament of 
beauty which reminds us of the rays of glory 
which adorned the head of Moses; the gloves, 
to preserve his hands free from all defilement, 
that he may worthily offer the sacrifice and per- 
form other sacred functions. 

The new bishop may now take up the Gospel, 
and go preach to the people committed to his care, 
for God is powerful to increase His grace 
in him, He who liveth and reigneth world with- 
out end. 

The consecration of the bishop being now 
complete, the consecrator continues the Mass. 
At the Offertory he sits down on the faldstool on 
the platform of the altar, and the new bishop 
comes up to him and offers to him on his knees 
two lighted torches, two loaves of bread, two 
small barrels of wine. The wine and bread are 
ornamented ; two are decorated with silver, and 



114 The Good Shepherd and the Diocese. 

two with gold, bearing the escutcheons of the 
consecrator and the newly-consecrated bishop. 
This offering is an homage from the consecrated 
to the consecrator. Both are reminded by the 
lighted torches that they are the light of the 
world, that they should shine before men by their 
good work ; the bread and the wine remind them 
that they should exercise hospitality ; but above 
all things we must here recall to mind the last sup- 
per of Our Lord with His disciples. Soon, indeed, 
at the end of Mass, they will partake of the same 
sacred host, and partake of the same chalice. 

The elect now sings : Sit nomen Domini ben- 
edictum. Blessed be the name of the Lord. 
May Almighty God bless you, the Father, the 
Son, and the Holy Ghost. And while he goes, 
clothed with his insignia, to bless all in the body 
of the church, let the sacred edifice resound 
with the solemn accents : Te Deum laudamus / 
We praise Thee, Lord / we acknowledge Thee 
to be the Lord. 

The newly-consecrated bishop may now go to 
his work, mindful of the words of the first vicar 
of Jesus Christ, St. Peter. 

The presbyters, therefore, who are among you, 
L beseech, as a fellow-presbyter and witness of 
the sufferings of Christ, as also a partaker of 
that glory which is to be revealed : 



The Good Shepherd and the Diocese. 115 

Feed the flock of God which is a?nong you, 
overseeing if not by constraint, hut willingly, 
according to God: not for filthy lucre, hut cheer- 

Nor as lording it over the clergy, hut becom- 
ing a pattern of the flock from the heart. 

And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, 
you shall receive an unfading crown of glory. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE DIOCESE, 
CONTINUED. 

The Episcopal Throne. — The Sacrament of Confirma- 
tion. — Ordination of Priests. — Episcopal Visitations. 

Whoever enters a cathedral church for the 
first time in his life cannot fail to notice within 
the chancel a throne raised higher than the floor, 
though somewhat lower than the platform of the 
altar. This is the episcopal chair. The prelate 
when occupying this chair is partly turned toward 
the people, and has before his eyes the nave of 
the edifice, resembling an inverted vessel. Many 
anxious thoughts fill his heart when he sees 
before him some of his spiritual children who 
are Christians in name only ; when he thinks of 
others whom he cannot see, but of whose bad 
conduct he is fully aware. How sad is his heart 
when he knows that there are so many sheep 
outside of his fold in the territory he has been 
appointed to govern ! He might, however, re- 
call to mind many actions and sayings of the 
chief Pastor of the sheep which are very proper 

116 



The Good Shepherd and the Diocese, 117 

to comfort him. If God be with him, who shall be 
against h im f Listen to the following occurrence 
in the life of Jesus Christ : 

" And when He entered into the boat, His 
disciples followed Him. 

" And behold a great tempest arose in the sea, 
so that the boat was covered with waves, but He 
was asleep. 

" And His disciples came to Him, and awaked 
Him, saying : Lord, save us, we perish. 

" And Jesus saith to them : "Why are you fear- 
ful, O ye of little faith? Then rising up He 
commanded the winds and the sea, and there 
came a great calm. 

" But the men wondered, saying : What man- 
ner of man is this, for the winds and the sea 
obey him ?" 

" Going through the whole world, teach all 
nations ; behold I am with you all the days, until 
the consummation of the world" 

As to the people who behold the bishop on 
his throne, their feeling is one of gratitude and 
confidence, for they know that he is an ambas- 
sador of the Good Shepherd. The bishop in his 
diocese has all the powers which he needs for the 
sanctification of his people. To him belongs the 
power to give perfect Christians to the Church 
by administering the sacrament of Confirmation ; 



118 The Good Shepherd and the Diocese. 

to him the duty to prepare virtuous youth for 
the ministry, to ordain them priests, and to send 
them to preach and administer the sacraments, 
precisely as he himself was sent by the Pontiff of 
Rome to govern his diocese, and as the Holy 
Father himself is sent by Jesus Christ. But as 
the bishop is the chief pastor of his diocese, to him 
it is given to represent more perfectly the Good 
Shepherd. For instance, he washes the feet of 
twelve persons on Holy Thursday, gives com- 
munion to the clergy on the same day that Our 
Saviour did ; he calls them together to attend a 
spiritual retreat, or to take part in a synod. To 
the bishop, above the other clergy, belongs the 
duty to preach, " I charge thee before God and 
Jesus Christ, who is to judge the living and the 
dead, by His coming, and His kingdom : preach 
the word, be instant in season and out of sea- 
son ; reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and 
doctrine" (II. Tim. iv. 1, 2). This he does safely by 
adhering to the doctrine of the councils approved 
by popes, by communicating to his people the 
instructions directed to him by the reigning 
pontiff ; and thus the sheep of the fold are in 
constant communication with the chief shepherd. 
Teaching is not the sole duty of the bishop. 
Jesus Christ constantly invited His disciples to 
pray, and He prayed with them. 



The Good Shepherd and the Diocese. 119 

Our Catholic Indians well understand this 
obligation of their pastors, whom they call the 
chiefs of prayer. When the bishop ordains a 
subdeacon, he lays upon him the obligation to 
recite every day the holy office for the Church, 
and he is himself (in fully organized dioceses) 
surrounded with a body of canons whose chief 
duty is to offer public prayers in the cathedral, 
both mornings and evenings. 

The bishop participates in and sees to the proper 
performance of the functions in the worship of 
God. It is not easy to understand the action 
of those who would do away with exterior cere- 
monies in the worship of God. It was not so 
under the Mosaic dispensation, and the following 
extract shows how well they were suited to 
inspire devotion. 

" Simon the high-priest, the son of Onias, who 
in his life propped up the house, and in his days 
fortified the temple. 

" By him also the height of the temple was 
founded, the double building and the high walls 
of the temple. 

" In his days the wells of water flowed out, 
and they were filled as the sea above meas- 
ure. 

u He took care of his nation, and delivered it 
from destruction. 



120 The Good Shepherd and the Diocese. 

" He prevailed to enlarge the city, and obtained 
glory in liis conversation with the people : and 
enlarged the entrance of the house, and the 
court. 

" He shone in his days as the morning star in 
the midst of a cloud, and as the moon at full. 

" And as the sun when it shineth, so did he 
shine in the temple of God. 

" And as the rainbow giveth light in the 
bright clouds, and as the flower of roses in the 
days of spring, and as the lilies that are on 
the brink of the water, and as the sweet smelling 
frankincense in the time of summer. 

"As a bright fire, and frankincense burning 
in the fire. 

"As a massy vessel of gold, adorned with 
every precious stone. 

" As an olive-tree budding forth, and a cypress 
tree rearing itself on high, when he put on the 
robe of glory, and was clothed with the perfec- 
tion of power. 

"When he went up to the holy altar, he 
honored the vesture of holiness. 

" And when he took the portions out of the 
hands of the priests, and he himself stood by 
the altar. And about him was the ring of his 
brethren : as the cedar planted in Mount Li- 
banus. 



The Good Shepherd and the Diocese. 121 

" And as branches of palm tree, so they stood 
round about him and all the sons of Aaron in 
their glory. 

" And the oblation of the Lord was in their 
hands, before all the congregation of Israel : and 
finishing his service, on the altar, to honor the 
offering of the most high King. 

" He stretched forth his hand to make a liba- 
tion, and offered of the blood of the grape. 

"He poured out at the foot of the altar a 
divine odor to the most high Prince. 

" Then the sons of Aaron shouted, they sounded 
with beaten trumpets, and made a great noise to 
be heard for a remembrance before God. 

" Then all the people together made haste and 
fell down to the earth upon their faces, to adore 
the Lord their God, and to pray to the almighty 
God the Most High" (Ecclus. 1.). 

The bishop must attend to everything con- 
nected with the worship of God, and especially 
with the holy sacrifice. He must be consulted 
regarding the place where it is to be offered. 
He consecrates the building itself, and the sacred 
vessels which come in contact with the body of 
Jesus Christ. He blesses the linen of the altar, 
the vestments of the priests, but particularly the 
altar, which receives a very solemn consecration. 
Although every Mass — even the Low Mass — is 



122 The Good Shepherd and the Diocese. 

celebrated with beautiful ceremonies, of which 
we never become tired, we must readily ac- 
knowledge that nothing can be more impressive 
than a Pontifical Mass, when the bishop of the 
diocese stands in rich vestments on the platform 
of the altar, surrounded and assisted by inferior 
ministers, placed between God and the people, 
bows down and prays to Him who is there pres- 
ent, whose name is the Word of God, the Good 
Shepherd. 

The bishop should not confine his labors to 
those who come to worship in his cathedral. He 
must visit his whole diocese. Religious houses, 
colleges, pious associations — everything connected 
with the worship of God in his diocese is subject 
to his inspection. When visiting a parish 
church, he should examine the buildings, the 
vestments, the altars, etc. He should obtain 
information regarding the manners of the people 
and of the clergy ; inquire about the administra- 
tion of the sacraments, the celebration of the 
rites of the Church, etc. The bishop may not 
forget the departed souls of his once spiritual 
children, for he should, in the course of his 
visitation to his parishes or missions, visit their 
graveyards, and the rite laid down for the visit 
to this sacred place is indeed very impressive. 
For our part, when the bishop stands and prays 



The Good Shepherd and the Diocese. 123 

at the foot of a cross in an humble graveyard, 
situated generally in a lonely desert country, 
being surrounded by good Christians kneeling 
over the graves of their dear departed, we think 
of the Good Shepherd at the tomb of Lazarus ; 
and when we recall to mind all the rules laid 
down by the Church for bishops who have charge 
of a diocese, we cannot but be convinced of the 
presence of the Good Shepherd among us. The 
Shepherd of to-day, although invisible, is the 
same who said nearly nineteen hundred years 
ago, " It is not the will of My Father that one 
of these should perish." 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE GOOD SHEPHERD IN THE PARISH. 
The Parish Priest. — Duties of the People toward him. 

In naming the Good Shepherd in the parish, 
we really refer to Jesus Christ Himself, who is 
the Shepherd of the whole Church and that of 
each separate diocese. But the work of the good 
shepherd in a parish is more tangible and con- 
stant than the work of the Sovereign Pontiff 
in the Church or that of the bishop in a dio- 
cese. The Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, is 
represented in the parish by a man who is the 
visible pastor of his flock. Who has not noticed 
the tender, strong, constant attachment of parish- 
ioners toward their priest ? Who has understood 
the immense charity of the pastor toward the 
lambs and sheep of his flock, save the pastor him- 
self ? This state of things is due to the fact that 
the visible shepherd is the ambassador of the in- 
visible one. The members of his flock consider 
him as a sacred person, as a gift from God ; the 
pastor considers each of his parishioners as one 
who has a soul immortal, redeemed by the blood 

124 



Tlie Good Shepherd and the Parish. 125 

of Christ, and destined to reign with God in 
heaven. 

The visible head of the parish is the father of 
each member of the flock ; they are unhappy un- 
less they see him among them. He enjoys their 
esteem and affection, because he participates in all 
their joys and sorrows. Christian mothers vener- 
ate him, for they know that he opened heaven to 
their children by giving them holy baptism. 
Parents are thankful to him who teaches their 
offspring to love and venerate them, and prepares 
them for their First Communion, their Confirma- 
tion, or the great event of their marriage. 

The poor of the parish are fond of their pastor, 
for he fails not to help and comfort them, as his 
Master did. You have often known and perhaps 
you now know of sick persons in a congregation. 
These are perhaps forsaken by former friends, or 
they may be total strangers in the place. Besides 
being attacked with sickness, they may be afflicted 
with poverty. The good pastor will not forget 
them, he will visit them frequently during their 
sickness ; each of his visits he will begin by say- 
ing, " Peace be to this house, and to all those who 
dwell in it ;" and one of his last visits he will end 
by saying, " May the body of Our Lord Jesus 
Christ keep thy soul unto life everlasting." We 
have all seen him praying for the departing soul ; 



126 The Good Shepherd and the Parish. 

we have noticed how grieved he appeared at the 
death of one of his flock ; how fervent his prayer 
when saying a last requiem over the grave. 

The members of a good parish have no need of 
being told to obey their prelates and be subject to 
them. They consider his orders as the expression 
of the will of God ; he may be said, in fact, to reg- 
ulate the actions of every day during their whole 
lives. Go in spirit to the house of a Christian who 
obeys his pastor. As soon as each member of his 
family wakes from slumber, he blesses himself 
with the sign of the cross, and offers all his 
actions, his prayers, and sufferings according to 
the intentions and in union with the Sacred 
Heart of Jesus Christ. The morning angelus 
bell is ringing ; it was the good priest who had it 
bought and consecrated, and every knee bows 
down to adore the Word Incarnate in the womb 
of Mary, and to ask the prayers of her who was 
given them as their mother. 

See the good Christian at work ! He has of- 
fered it to God, and while attending to it in a 
spirit of penance, he recalls to mind the instruc- 
tions given the preceding Sunday by the pas- 
tor. 

Night has come ; all the household must now 
retire and take a needed rest, sanctified by the 
slumber of the Word Incarnate ; but before they 



The Good Shepherd and the Parish. 127 

bid each other good-night, they all kneel before 
a picture of the Holy Family; and how earnestly 
they pray for one another's welfare, for one 
another's sanetification, final perseverance, and 
reunion in heaven ! 

The duty of a shepherd of sheep is to provide 
his flock with rich, wholesome pastures ; the 
duty of a shepherd of souls is to teach his parish- 
ioners to observe all things whatsoever Christ 
had commanded to His apostles. If he, this 
pastor of souls, were not guided himself regard- 
ing this matter, he might neglect some important 
instructions regarding faith or morals ; but the 
pastor sent by the Church has received from her 
the proper directions. The books which the 
Church puts into his hands indicate to him what 
matters he must teach, at what time of the year 
he should place them before his people. She 
gives him directions as to the sacraments he 
should administer, and the manner of adminis- 
tering them ; and so it happens that the whole 
life and doctrine of Jesus Christ is placed be- 
fore the eyes of his parishioners during the 
course of the ecclesiastical year. As the Church 
is admirable in pointing out the matters to be 
taught by the pastor, so she is admirable in 
suggesting practices at the same time simple 
and beautiful, by which the ignorant and the 



128 The Good Shepherd and the Parish, 

learned are easily made acquainted with the life 
and teaching of Jesus Christ. Only think of 
the sign of the cross, the Rosary, the Way of the 
Cross, the 'ceremonies of Holy Week ! But we 
insist on it, Jesus Christ is the Shepherd, and 
the whole work of the visible pastor consists in 
preaching Jesus Christ to His people, in uniting 
them to His divine person. This good, visible 
pastor may well say to his people : " My little 
children, of whom I am in labor again until 
Christ be formed in you" (Gal. iv. 19). 

There is a striking similarity between Jesus 
Christ and the priest in the manner of instruct- 
ing their hearers. He who has been so fortu- 
nate as to visit the Holy Land cannot help but 
notice it at once. Our Lord spoke chiefly to 
fishermen, to husbandmen, to owners of or la- 
borers in vineyards. He addressed Himself to 
the rich, He addressed Himself to the poor, to 
the afflicted. Now, all these classes, or nearly 
all of them, come to listen to the parish priest 
on Sundays. It is clear to us that sailors and 
fishermen are interested and edified when they 
hear their pastor relate to them that the apostles 
were fishermen, that Jesus Christ helped them 
in their work, that He commanded the winds 
and the sea. Many congregations are made up 
chiefly of husbandmen, of tillers of the soil. 



Tlie Good Shejjherd and the Parish. 129 

You may perhaps have noticed with what wrapt 
attention they listened to their pastor when he 
read to them parables like the following : 

" The same day Jesus going out of the house, 
sat by the sea-side. 

" And great multitudes were gathered togeth- 
er unto Him, so that He went up into a boat 
and sat : and all the multitude stood on the 
shore. 

" And He spoke to them many things in par- 
ables, saying : Behold, the sower went forth to 
sow. 

" And while he soweth some fell by the way- 
side, and the birds of the air came and ate them 
up. 

" And other some fell upon stony ground, 
where they had not much earth : and they 
sprung up immediately, because they had no 
deepness of earth ; 

"And when the sun was up, they were 
scorched : and because they had not root, they 
withered away. 

" And others fell among thorns : and the 
thorns grew up and choked them. 

" And others fell upon good ground : and they 
brought forth fruit, some an hundred-fold, some 
sixty-fold, and some thirty-fold'' (Matt. xiii. 1-8). 

It is easy to imagine with what attention the 



130 The Good Shepherd and the Parish. 

Jews listened to this parable. The Lord spoke 
from the boat on the lake ; they stood on the 
shore near the highway ; behind them, looking 
west, were the fields which they used to culti- 
vate year after year, and the country was then, 
as it is now, very hilly. They listened with at- 
tention. They were charmed with the words 
that fell from His lips ; and the apostles were as 
delighted as we are when they heard the Lord 
Jesus Christ give the following interpretation of 
the parable : 

a He that soweth, soweth the word. 

"And these are they by the wayside, where 
the word is sown, and as soon as they have 
heard, immediately Satan cometh, and taketh 
away the word that was sown in their hearts. 

" And these likewise are they that are sown 
on the stony ground : who when they have 
heard the word, immediately receive it with 

" And they have no root in themselves, but 
are only for a time : and then when tribulation 
and persecution arise for the word, they are 
presently scandalized. 

" And others there are who are sown among 
thorns : these are they that hear the word, 

" And the cares of the world and the deceit- 
fulness of riches, and the lust after other things 



The Good Shepherd and the Parish. 131 

entering in, choke the word, and it is made 
fruitless. 

" And these are they who are sown upon the 
good ground, who hear the word, and receive it, 
and yield fruit, the one thirty, another sixty, and 
another a hundred" (Mark iv. 14—20). 

Among the multitudes which came to listen to 
the Saviour there were always some of His ene- 
mies, scribes, Pharisees, ancients of the people, 
who obstinately refused to believe in Him — nay, 
who had resolved to put Him to death. These, 
however, living in an agricultural country, knew 
all about vineyards and the manner of working 
them. The following parable was spoken by Our 
Lord a few days before His passion — that is, at a 
time when all should have considered Him as a 
divine messenger by reason of the miracles 
which He had performed : 

" Hear ye another parable : There was a 
man an householder who planted a vineyard, 
and made a hedge round about it, and dug 
in it a press, and built a tower, and let it out 
to husbandmen, and went into a strange coun- 
try. 

" And when the time of the fruits drew nigh, 
he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they 
might receive the fruits thereof. 

" And the husbandmen, laying hands on his 



132 The Good Shepherd and the Parish. 

servants, beat one, and killed another, and stoned 
another. 

" Again he sent other servants more than the 
former : and they did to them in like manner. 

" And last of all he sent to them his son, say- 
ing : They will reverence my son. 

u But the husbandmen seeing the son, said 
among themselves : This is the heir, come, let us 
kill him, and we shall have his inheritance. 

" And taking him they cast him forth out of 
the vineyard, and killed him. 

" "When therefore the lord of the vineyard shall 
come, what will he do to those husbandmen ? 

" They say to him : He will bring those evil 
men to an evil end : and will let out his vineyard 
to other husbandmen, that shall render him the 
fruit in due season. 

" Jesus saith to them : Have you never read in 
the Scriptures : The stone which the builders re- 
jected, the same is become the head of the corner ? 
By the Lord this hath been done, and it is won- 
derful in our eyes : 

" Therefore I say to you, that the kingdom of 
God shall be taken from you, and shall be given 
to a nation yielding the fruits thereof. 

" And whosoever shall fall on this stone, shall 
be broken : but on whomsoever it shall fall, it 
shall grind him to powder. 



The Good Shepherd and the Parish. 133 

" And when the chief priests and Pharisees 
had heard His parables, they knew that He spoke 
of them. 

" And seeking to lay hands on Him, they 
feared the multitudes : because they held Him as 
a prophet" (Matt. xxi. 33-46). 

When the pastor instructs his people on Sun- 
days, he sees before him the poor, those who weep 
and suffer, and he says to them in the language of 
his Master, "Blessed are the poor of spirit, for of 
such is the kingdom of heaven ;" " blessed are 
they that weep, for they shall be comforted." To 
the widow who has lost her only son, to the sisters 
who weep over the death of their brother, He 
says, " Weep not. Thy brother shall riser 

Sinners, nay, scandalous sinners, are generally 
found in parishes ; these the pastor terrifies by 
causing the words of Jesus Christ to sound in their 
ears, " Thou fool, this very night do they re- 
quire thy soul of thee, and whose shall all these 
things be which thou hast prepared ?" " Depart 
from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire." The 
pastor, like his Master, loves to speak to all of the 
mercy of God. " Come to me, all ye who labor 
and are heavily burdened, and I will comfort 
you." " Learn of Me, because I am meek and 
humble of heart." "There is joy in heaven 
upon one sinner doing penance." The good 



134 The Good Shepherd and the Parish. 

pastor points out to all the heart, the loving heart 
of Jesus Christ, who has loved men so much. 

Oh, how much do they err who fancy that in 
the Catholic Church Jesus Christ is neglected, 
and the priest is looked to as the fountain of light 
and grace ! No, not so ; the Catholic pastor of 
souls is the ambassador of Christ, the voice of 
Christ ; he preaches Christ and not himself, and 
his instructions are generally imparted within a 
church dedicated to the honor of his Master. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

"I AM WITH YOU." 

How the Good Shepherd is with His Flock to the End 
of the World. 

In preceding chapters we saw that God wishes 
men to be guided by men ; that one shepherd or 
ruler had been promised to mankind ; that this 
shepherd is Our Lord Jesus Christ. He estab- 
lished a Church of which Peter was the head, 
and whose successors are the popes, who govern 
the whole Church chiefly through the bishops, as 
bishops govern parishes through local pastors. 
The doctrine of the Church, the sacraments 
which she administers, are the doctrine of Jesus 
Christ, the sacraments of Jesus Christ, having a 
divine efficacy because the Church is the work 
of Christ. The rulers of the Church are men, 
and not angels, because men are composed of 
soul and body, the senses of the body being 
the means of conveying instruction to the soul. 
On this account, Jesus Christ, the great Shep- 
herd, remained visible in the world, teaching by 
word of mouth, openly instituting visible signs 

135 



136 "I am with You." 

by which grace is conveyed to our souls, work- 
ing out miracles in order to prove His divine 
mission. 

The children of the Church feel an immense 
comfort, knowing that the Redeemer continues 
to instruct them through the Church, and to sanc- 
tify their souls through sacraments which possess 
their power of giving grace by virtue of the 
merits of the Saviour. The Good Shepherd 
had openly announced that He wotdd not leave 
His apostles orphans, that He would come to 
them, that He would he with them all days until 
the consummation of the world. 

The holy Church will tell us how the Saviour 
realized His promise, and this she relates every 
day in the same words upon thousands of altars. 
The words are the words of the consecration at 
Mass: 

"Jesus Christ, the day before He suffered, 
took bread into His holy and venerable hands, 
and with eyes lifted up toward heaven, unto 
Thee, O God, His almighty Father, giving 
thanks to Thee, did bless, break, and give unto 
His disciples, saying : Take and eat ye all of 
this, for this is My body. In like manner, after 
supper, taking also this excellent chalice into 
His holy and venerable hands, and giving thanks 
to Thee, He blessed and gave to His disciples, 



"J am with You." 137 

saving : Take and drink ye all of it, for this is 
the chalice of My blood of the new and eternal 
testament, the mystery of faith, which shall be 
shed for you and for many for the remission of 
sins. As often as you do these things, ye shall 
do them in remembrance of Me." 

By the words of the consecration, the bread is 
changed into the body of Jesus Christ, and the 
wine into His blood. The blood and the body 
are together present under the appearance of 
bread, and the body and the blood are present 
under the appearance of wine, because Jesus 
Christ is living. But there is here a semblance 
of immolation, if the words alone are attended to ; 
and Jesus on the altar is in a state of death, 
although really living. This is the sacrifice, the 
pure oblation offered to the Trinity from the 
rising of the sun to its going down. Here is the 
Good Shepherd applying to the souls of His 
lambs and sheep the merits of His passion and 
death. 

He has realized His promise — I am with you, 
I will come to you. They who stood on Calvary 
when He hung on the cross saw His humanity 
only, but in the Eucharist the divinity is hid and 
the humanity also. But yet the Good Shepherd 
is there. Here He is the meek and humble of 
heart, here He is the all-powerful Creator. 



138 "I am with You." 

« 

The Good Shepherd must supply all the needs 
of each member of His flock. The children of 
God need offer to Him public worship, adoration, 
thanksgiving, prayer. Public worship was per- 
fectly organized under the law of Moses, and the 
Lord Himself had prescribed the rites and cere- 
monies to be used in His temple. If the Christ 
had not prescribed the manner of worshipping 
God, He would have been, in this respect, in- 
ferior to the lawgiver of the Jews. But He in- 
stituted the sacrifice of the Mass, and here we 
have the Good Shepherd really present, inter- 
ceding for us, adoring for us the Holy Trinity, 
returning thanks for us; and the worshipper 
around His altar prays, adores, begs pardon with 
Him. But he does more. This worshipper 
believes in the real presence, and his adoration, 
his prayers, his thanksgiving are offered to the 
Word Incarnate present on the altar. Devout 
Catholics alone can tell the delight, the com- 
fort they experience at the foot of the altar 
during the sacrifice ; and oh, how good to see a 
whole congregation retiring from the church 
after hearing Mass on Sundays ! They enjoy 
peace and contentment ; they have the peace 
of God which the world cannot give, for they 
have adored their Creator; they have returned 
Him thanks ; they have prayed to Him through 



"I am with Your 139 

Jesus Christ, and they return home resigned to 
work, to suffer, as the Lord will ordain, hoping 
to obtain life everlasting in the end through the 
goodness and merits of Him who loved them 
unto death, even unto the death of the cross. 

The Good Shepherd is present among His 
flock not during Mass only, but He has His 
dwelling among us. He is in the tabernacle, in- 
viting all to come to Him, to pray that they may 
receive. Through His immense condescension, 
each lamb, each sheep of the parish enjoys the 
same privilege which Joseph and Mary enjoyed 
at Nazareth. He is with them day and night, 
and as it was in the days of His mortal life, so it 
is now with His disciples. The wddow who has 
lost her son, the father of the prodigal child, can 
come and weep before Him, and He who has 
power and compassion will dry their tears and 
bring home the stray ones. Let the sinner, let 
the pastor who grieves for the loss of souls, let 
all who sigh for the conversion of others, come 
before the tabernacle and say : Spare, Lord, 
spare Thy people ; he not angry with us forever. 
The voice of the Good Shepherd sounds now 
fully as sweet as it did eighteen hundred years 
ago, Come to Me all ; and so the old, the sick, 
and the dying raise their hearts to Him and 
say : 



140 " I am with You." 

i ' Faint and weary Thou hast sought me, 
On the cross of suffering bought me, 
Shall this grace be vainly brought me ? 

" Thou the sinful Mary savest, 
Thou the dying thief f orgavest, 
And to me a hope vouchsafest. 

" With Thy favored sheep, oh place me, 
Nor among the goats abase me, 
But to Thy right hand upraise me." 

"Well is the doctrine of the real presence un- 
derstood by Christians. As the Good Shepherd 
knows His sheep, so the lambs and the sheep 
know His infinite love toward them. They re- 
member His poverty, His labors, His sufferings, 
His death for their souls, and they love to come 
and visit Him, to converse with Him, to pray to 
Him. Such is indeed the mutual love of Jesus 
Christ and of Christians that His altar is sur- 
rounded with adorers both day and night. 

Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, who is our 
victim at Mass and the companion of our exile 
in the tabernacle, is also the food of our souls at 
the holy table. Come, eat My bread, and drink 
the wine which I have mixed for you. Come 
and eat ye all of this. The bread which I 
will give is My flesh for the life of the world. 



U I am with You." 141 

Not as the mcmna which the Israelites ate in 
the desert, and they died. lie that eats this 
brt ad shall live forever. I ivitt raise him up in 
the last day. And so when the Christian departs 
this life, after receiving the holy viaticum, 
the Church burns incense around his body, as if 
it were the body of Jesus Christ Himself. 
What more could the Good Shepherd have 
done for His sheep ? 



"O Thou, Good Shepherd, very bread, 
Jesu, on us Thy mercy shed : 
Sweetly feed us, 
Gently lead us, 
Till of Thy fulness us Thou give, 
Safe in the land of those that live. 



"Thou who canst all and all dost know, 
Thou who dost feed us here below, 
Grant us to share 
Thy banquet there, 
Coheirs and partners of Thy love, 
With the blest citizens above. Amen/' 

— From the hymn on Corpus Ghristi Day. 



" Thanks be to Thee, O good Jesus, our eternal 
Shepherd, who hast vouchsafed to feed us poor 
exiles with Thy precious body and blood, and to 



142 



I am ivith You. 



invite us to the receiving of these mysteries with 
the very words of Thy own month, saying: 
' Come to me, all ye that labor and are burdened, 
and I will refresh you ' " (Following of Christ, 



book iv., c. 1). 



APPENDIX L 

DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE MARTYRDOM 
AND DEATH OF ST. PETER, SENT BY ST. 
LINUS, HIS FIRST SUCCESSOR, TO THE 
CHURCHES OF THE EAST. 

After teaching for a long time and in diverse 
ways the Gospel of salvation, working great 
miracles in the presence of the people ; after 
fighting frequently against Simon the Magician 
and other heralds of the Antichrist, enduring, 
in the mean time, great sufferings, such as scourg- 
ings and imprisonments, the blessed Peter re- 
joiced exceedingly in the Lord, and returned 
thanks to Him with the brethren, seeing the 
multitudes which came to embrace the faith of 
God and of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Through 
constant application to prayer and preaching, as 
well as to the other duties of piety, and particu- 
larly to those of charity and chastity, he caused 
divine grace to enter the hearts of his hearers ; 
he encouraged those who believed in Christ to 
live according to the rules of modesty and conti- 
nence. 

143 



144 Martyrdom and Death of St. Peter. 

The words of the apostle inspired many noble 
and powerful ladies of all ages with great love 
for chastity — nay, the greater part of the Roman 
ladies resolved to preserve purity of heart and also 
of body as far as it would be in their power. But 
as the time drew near in which Peter's fidelity 
and sufferings were to be rewarded, the chief of 
the party of perdition made opposition to the 
progress of the Gospel. The antichrist Nero, 
who was incarnate iniquity, ordered him to be 
loaded with chains and cast into a horrible dun- 
geon. 

Here it was that he received the visit of four 
concubines of the prefect Agrippa, whose names 
were Agrippina, Eucharia, Euphemia, and Diona. 
When he had spoken to them of chastity, and put 
before their eyes the commandments of Our Lord 
Jesus Christ, they felt ashamed and aggrieved 
to see themselves tools of Agrippa's luxury. 
From that very moment, making an agreement 
among themselves, they consecrated themselves 
to chastity, and being strengthened by Our Lord 
Jesus Christ, they resolved not to yield to his 
adulterous desires in the future. Henceforth 
they would not even see his face. Their conduct 
very much grieved Agrippa. He caused them 
to be closely watched, and his men informed him 
that they went regularly to hear Peter's instruc- 



Martyrdom and Death of St. Peter. 145 

tions. He caused them to be brought to him, 
and exclaimed in his anger, " I know where you 
come from. That disciple of Christ has taught 
you not to see me. But I know that neither his 
words nor his magic art could lessen the love you 
bear me." They however remained unmoved, as 
they had been made firm by the instructions of 
Peter. 

The prefect then swore that he would cause 
them to be buried alive ; that Peter would be 
made to suffer horrible tortures ; that he would 
blot away his name forever from among men. 
But he could not bring them to yield to his im- 
passioned desires. " We will rather," they said, 
" lose our life in the midst of torments than 
renounce Jesus Christ, to whom we have made 
a vow of chastity." 

Agrippa, being principally angry against Peter, 
looked out for some plausible motive to procure 
his death. In the mean time, one of the ladies of 
the first nobility of Rome came to hear Peter. 
She was the wife of Albinus, one of the intimate 
friends of Caesar. Her name was Xandippa, and 
she was accompanied by many other distinguished 
ladies. After hearing what St. Peter said con- 
cerning faith and chastity, she resolved to avoid 
carefully all that might be sinful. For this 
Albinus was much grieved and incensed against 



146 Martyrdom and Death of St. Peter. 

the apostle, but neither threats rior caresses could 
make her change her resolution. Albinus was a 
friend of Agrippa, the prefect of Rome ; to him 
he disclosed the cause of his grief, and said that 
the preaching of Peter was the cause of it. He 
begged him, in the name of their friendship, to 
avenge his wrongs by punishing the apostle. He 
added that he would revenge himself if Agrippa 
refused him this favor. Agrippa answered that, 
owing to the teaching of that man, he himself 
had suffered similar, nay, much harder troubles. 

Albinus, seeing that he could not persuade 
Xandippa to renounce the faith and study of the 
Gospel, concocted a plan with Agrippa to catch 
Peter as in a net, and make him suffer death as 
a magician. Xandippa, having become aware 
of the plot, sent a trusty messenger to St. Peter, 
telling him to flee from Eome. She, moreover, 
laid the plot of Albinus and Agrippa before 
Marcellus, son of the prefect Marcus, who, after 
rejecting the doctrine of Simon Magus, had 
always shown himself a faithful and courageous 
disciple of blessed Peter. 

On the morrow some of the senators rose up 
in the midst of the session and said : " We draw 
your attention, noble patricians, to a doctrine 
which threatens to pervert the Eternal City. 
Peter dissolves marriages by teaching divorce ; 



Martyrdom and Death of St. Peter. 147 

lie separates our wives from us, and we know 
not what new, unheard-of doctrine he introduces 
among us." 

By speaking thus, they provoked the others to 
rise against Peter, and cause him to be brought 
before the courts. Agrippa now rejoiced that 
he had a chance to wreak vengeance on the 
apostle. But Peter and the faithful were made 
aware of what had come to pass. Marcellus, 
therefore, and the brethren begged him to remove 
far away. The apostle said to them : " We 
must not, my brethren and children, flee from 
the occasion of suffering for Jesus Christ, since 
He voluntarily offered Himself to death for our 
salvation." 

At these words Marcellus and the brethren 
burst into tears, and said : " Have pity on us, 
O father full of goodness, have compassion on 
the young and those who are yet novices in the 
faith ; do not forsake them in the midst of the 
dangers of idolatry." To the prayers of Mar- 
cellus were joined the tears and supplications of 
the young men, of the poor, of the widows, 
of the aged and infirm. Peter, being so full of 
compassion that he could not refrain from 
tears when he saw any one weeping, yielded in 
the end to their entreaties. He said to them : 
" Let no one accompany me ; I shall go out alone, 



148 Martyrdom and Death of St. Peter. 

after disguising myself." On the next night, 
after celebrating the office, he bid adieu to the 
faithful, imparted his blessing to them, recom- 
mending them to God, and left Rome alone. 
While on the way the fetters used in binding 
him fell of themselves. JSTow, when he was 
going out of the city gate, he saw Christ coming 
to meet him ; he adored Him, and said, " Whither 
art Thou going, O Lord ?" The Christ answered, 
" I am going to Rome, to be there crucified anew." 
" Art Thou once more to be crucified ?" St. 
Peter asked. " Yes," said Jesus Christ, " I shall 
be once more attached to the cross." " I am 
going back," said St. Peter, " and will follow 
Thee." 

(At the place of this meeting a small chapel 
stands to-day, which is known by the name 
Domine quo vadis.) 

The Saviour now ascended up into heaven. 
Peter shed tears of joy, and watched Him as long 
as he could. He now understood that by those 
words the Saviour made known to him the kind 
of death which he was to suffer. He therefore 
returned into the city full of joy, giving glory to 
God, and told his brethren that he had met the 
Lord, who had informed him that He was to be 
crucified anew in the person of His disciple. 

When he had announced to them that he was 



Martyrdom and Death of St. Peter. 149 

going to suffer death, they began to weep and 
lament, sobbing and saying, " Consider the 
state of your sheep, O good pastor ! See how 
important it is that you should strengthen by 
your words those whose faith is yet so weak." 
" It is easy to the Lord," replied St. Peter, " to 
confirm the hearts of His servants without the 
help of my feeble words. Those whom He 
planted He will cause to attain a state of so great 
perfection that they will become able to plant. 
As to me, being a servant, I must accomplish the 
will of my Master. If, therefore, He will have 
me to remain longer in the flesh for love of you, 
I do not refuse it, and if He desires me to suffer 
for His name, and in this manner to receive me 
through sufferings, at this I feel most happy, 
filled with exceeding great joy." 

While then by those and other like words he 
strove to comfort the souls of his brethren, there 
came Herod with four apparitors and ten other 
men, who laid hands on him. After snatching 
him from the midst of the faithful, they bound 
him with fetters and led him before Agrippa, the 
prefect of the city. On seeing him, Agrippa 
said : " Thou art very rash in deceiving the 
people, and in persuading wives to separate from 
their husbands. Thou hast dared to introduce 
the worship of I know not what Christ, and to 



150 Martyrdom and Death of St. Peter. 

teach I know not what doctrine, opposed to the 
worship and sacred ceremonies of the Eternal 
City." 

At this instant the face of the apostle became 
bright as the sun, and he addressed Agrippa as 
follows : " I know what thou art aiming at, O 
thou brand of treachery, lover of forbidden 
pleasures, inventor of the most atrocious tortures, 
thou persecutor of the innocent, and dwelling of 
Satan ! Thou knowest nothing of the glory 
which I crave to obtain, and on this account thou 
statest that I strive to gain the confidence of men 
and of women." " Since thou knowest," said 
Agrippa, " that I am ignorant of that in which 
thou dost glory, make it known to me." Blessed 
Peter answered him : " I desire to have no other 
glory save the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ, 
whose servant I am." " "Wilt thou, then," asked 
Agrippa, ." be crucified as thy Master and God 
was crucified ?" " I am unworthy," St. Peter 
replied, " to have the world witness my sufferings 
by being exposed to its view on the cross ; but 
this I desire ardently, that I may imitate the 
passion of Christ ; let my tortures be whatever 
thou wilt please to inflict on me." Agrippa, 
concealing his incontinence under the cloak of 
superstition, condemned the apostle to be crucified, 

As soon as this news spread there was a con- 



Martyrdom and Death of St. Peter. 151 

course of people ; the streets and the squares 
could not contain the men of all ages and con- 
ditions who hastened to come ; the rich and the 
poor, the widows, the orphans, the little and the 
great — all said aloud : " Why do they put Peter 
to death ? What harm has he done the city ? It 
is wrong to condemn one who is innocent. We 
should fear lest the Christ will avenge the death 
of so great a man, and that we all perish." They 
at the same time rose up against Agrippa, wish- 
ing to deliver Peter and to save his life. In 
Rome all was trouble and confusion. 

At this juncture Peter stopped, and went up on 
an eminence, and bidding the people to be silent, 
he said to them : " Listen, Romans who believe in 
Jesus Christ and hope in Him, be you mindful 
of His patience, and let the memory of the prod- 
igies which He wrought through me in your sight 
bring you comfort. 

" Wait for His coming, when He will render to 
every one according to his works. That which 
you see me suffer now was revealed to me long 
ago by the Lord. Know you, then, that I am im- 
patient to reach this last goal, when, being freed 
from the body, I shall go to meet the Lord. If 
your love for me is sincere, detain me not when I 
am going to God, do not hinder me from going 
immediately to Jesus Christ. Remain quiet, let 



152 Martyrdom and Death of St. Peter. 

you rejoice at my immolation, that I myself may 
offer my sacrifice joyf nlly to the Lord ; for God 
loves the cheerfnl giver." 

The words of Peter conld hardly calm down the 
sedition and prevent Agrippa from being torn to 
pieces, for the people wished to do away w T ith 
this prefect, and it was in their power to do so ; 
they only feared to aggrieve the apostle, who was 
following in the steps of his Master. An immense 
multitude followed the apostle and the appari- 
tors toward a place named JSTaumachia, near the 
obelisk of Nero, on the mountain. A cross had 
been placed there. Peter, seeing the people, who 
wept and were ready to rise again, spoke as 
follows : " I beg of you, my brethren, hinder not 
my sacrifice. Seek not to injure Agrippa, keep 
no bitter resentment against him. The author of 
my temporal death is the devil, who by so doing 
abuses the permission which Almighty God has 
left to him. He is angry to see that my ministry 
has snatched away from him vessels of ignominy, 
which became vessels of continence, temples of 
Jesus Christ, tabernacles of honor and grace. Do 
you, my brethren and children, show yourselves 
obedient to my recommendations. . . . The time 
to offer my sacrifice has come. Be mindful of 
the signs, of the prodigies of the miraculous 
cross, which Christ through my ministry has 



Martyrdom and Death of St. Peter. 153 

wrought under your eyes and in your favor. 
The bodily ailments of many have been cured for 
the sole purpose that the souls of all might he 
saved. Dead bodies have been brought back to 
life in order that dead souls might return to God. 
But why do they tarry, and not bring me to the 
cross ? Adieu, my brethren ; be patient, and ob- 
serve what I have told you. I commend you to 
Jesus Christ." 

The apostle then went on ; and standing before 
the cross he said : " O cross, whose name is a 
hidden mystery ! O unspeakable favor, for the 
name of the cross brings peace ! O cross, which 
dost unite man with God ! Thou which didst 
free him from the empire and yoke of Satan ! O 
cross, which dost always through faith represent 
vividly to mankind the passion of the Saviour 
and their redemption ! O cross, which dost 
every day offer to the faithful the flesh of the 
immaculate Lamb ; which savest them efficaciously 
from the deadly poison of the old serpent ; which 
ever extinguishest, in behalf of the believers, the 
flaming sword which hinders entrance into Para- 
dise ! O cross, which every day establishest 
peace between heaven and earth, and puttest be- 
fore the eyes of the Eternal Father the death of 
the Mediator, who raised Himself from the dead 
to die no more, thou that wast so fortunately 



154 Martyrdom and Death of St. Peter. 

destined to incessantly renew this great mystery, 
for the sake of thee I suffer violence ; now that 
the end of my corporal life has come, I will not 
cease to unveil the secret mystery which God has 
hid in thee, a mystery w^hich I constantly pub- 
lished during my life. O you who believe in 
Jesus Christ, consider not as a cross that which 
here appears to your eyes ! And now especially 
I say to you all who hear me in this my last* 
hour, Command your senses to be silent, raise 
your minds to heaven, think of the invisible, and 
you will understand that in Jesus Christ the 
work of salvation was accomplished through the 
cross. Return to the earth the body which 
thou hast received from it as a debt, O Peter, 
which thou must acquit through the ministry of 
those who have power to kill the body !" He 
afterward said to those who commanded the ex- 
ecutioners, " Why do you lose your time ? Ap- 
paritors, in whose hands I am, why do you de- 
lay ? Obey the order that you received ; strip me 
of this mortal vesture, that, being clad with im- 
mortality, I may enjoy the presence of the Lord." 
He then made another request ; to those who 
helped the executioners he said : " I pray you, 
the instruments of my real salvation, to place me 
on the cross with my head downward. It is not 
proper that the servant be crucified like the 



Martyrdom and Death of St. Peter. 155 

Master of the universe, who died for the salva- 
tion of men. I wish to glorify Him in my 
death. I pray that you grant me this favor, so 
that my eyes may continue to behold the mystery 
of the cross, and that my words may be more 
easily heard by those standing around me." 
In consequence of this request the executioners 
turned up the cross, placing its straight part up 
and the arms downward. 

As soon as he had been crucified, as he saw 
the people weeping, he began to comfort them by 
speaking to them of the mystery of the cross. 
Peter spoke as follows : " O great and deep mys- 
tery of the cross ! O unspeakable and invincible 
bond of charity ! Through the cross it was that 
God drew all things to Himself. This is the tree 
of life by which He has destroyed the empire of 
death. Through the fruit of this tree Thou hast 
opened my eyes, O Lord ; open Thou also the 
eyes of all these, that they may behold the con- 
solation of life eternal." 

At these words the Lord really opened the 
eyes of those who wept over the sufferings of 
Peter, and they saw angels holding crowns of 
roses and lilies, while Peter, standing on the top 
of a straight cross, received from Jesus Christ a 
book, wherein he read the words which he uttered. 
At this sight they began to rejoice, and so mani- 



156 Martyrdom and Death of St. Peter. 

fested their delight that the infidels and the 
executioners were suddenly struck with stupor 
and fear. 

At this Peter returned thanks to Our Lord 
Jesus Christ, saying : " Thou alone, O Lord, wert 
worthy to be crucified on the top of the cross, 
because Thou hast redeemed the whole world 
from sin ; I have desired to imitate Thee in Thy 
death also, but I had considered it a usurpation 
to be crucified in a standing position." 

These things and many others did the blessed 
apostle speak to the people with a serene, joyful 
countenance, and then, raising his voice, he made 
the following prayer : " Those words of life, O 
Lord Jesus Christ, Thou hast made known to 
me ; Thou hast made known to me whatever I 
have said concerning this wood, this mysterious 
tree. For this I return thanks to Thee, O mer- 
ciful King, with that voice which is heard in 
the midst of silence. This voice came not from 
earth, has nothing of earth ; it is not written in 
books, it impresses no one in a sensible manner. 
Lord Jesus Christ, Thou my King, my Master, I 
return Thee thanks with a mind which believes 
in Thee, which loves and embraces Thee, and 
with the interior voice which speaketh to Thee, 
whose accents, formed by an humble heart, are 
heard by Thee alone. My Lord and my God, 



Martyrdom and Death of St. Peter. 157 

Thou art full of kindness and goodness. Thou 
art the author and finisher of our salvation, 
Thou art the object of my desires, my refresh- 
ment, my delights ! To me Thou art all, and 
Thou art all for me ! In Thee we live, we move, 
and we have our being. We must, therefore, 
consider Thee as standing for us in lieu of all 
blessings, that Thou mayest grant to us those 
which Thou hast promised — blessings which the 
eye of man has not seen, which his ears have 
not heard, which it was not given the heart of 
man to understand. Preserve those blessings 
for Thy servants, grant them to enter into pos- 
session of those precious advantages, for Thou 
art the eternal pastor and sovereign good ; Thou 
art the true Son of God. Into Thy hands I 
remit, I commend the sheep Thou hast con- 
fided to my care. Do Thou make them en- 
ter the sheepfold. Do Thou preserve them, 
for Thou art the door, the fold, and the por- 
tal. Thou art their pasture, their eternal nour- 
ishment. To Thee be honor and glory with 
the Father and the Holy Ghost world without 
end." 

At this very moment, when the people had 
answered Amen, Peter gave up the ghost. He 
was about eighty years old, had governed the 
Church of Pome twenty-five years, and borne the 



158 Martyrdom and Death of St. Peter. 

charge of head of Christendom for thirty-eight 
years, since the death of Christ. 

Immediately after this Marcellus, son of 
Marcus, prefect of Rome, who had been converted 
by St. Peter, and had become one of his most 
fervent disciples, took down the body without 
consulting any one, and washed it with milk and 
wine of very good quality. He next pulverized 
aromatic gums, took fifteen hundred mina of 
aloes, myrrh, balsam, and various other aromat- 
ics, and carefully embalmed it. He also filled 
with honey of Attica the new sepulchre which 
he prepared, and having anointed the body 
with precious perfumes, deposited it in the sep- 
ulchre. 

In this work he was helped by three holy men, 
who appeared immediately after the death of the 
blessed apostle. They said they had come from 
Jerusalem to visit the faithful of Eome. No one 
had seen them before, neither were they seen by 
any person after. They joined Marcellus ; with 
him they carried the body of the apostle and 
placed it at the foot of a terebinth, near a place 
named Naumachia, which is also called Yatican. 
Now these men, who said they had come from 
Jerusalem, spoke to the people, and said, " You 
must rejoice and congratulate yourselves, for you 
have deserved to have great patrons. They are 



Martyrdom and Death of SL Peter. 159 

the friends of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Know this 
also, that after the death of the apostles, the in- 
famous Nero can no longer hold the reins of the 
empire. 

The very next night, while Marcellus was 
watching at the tomb of the apostle and shed- 
ding tears of regret for his master, blessed Peter 
appeared to him. At his sight Marcellus was 
seized with fear, and rose to go to him. " Brother 
Marcellus," said Peter to him, " have you not 
heard the voice of the Lord, who said, ' Suffer 
the dead to bury the dead ? ' " " Beloved master, 
I have heard it." " Then you must not weep as 
if, being dead yourself, you had been burying one 
dead. You must rejoice as being living, and 
having honored Him w r ho is the source of life 
and delight. Suffer the dead to bury the dead ; 
as for you, as you have heard it from my mouth, 
go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 

This was welcome news for all the brethren, 
when Marcellus told them these things, and hence- 
forth, in every place, through the virtue of the 
sufferings of Peter, was the faith of the faithful 
confirmed by God the Father, in the name of 
Our Lord Jesus Christ, through the efficacy of the 
Holy Ghost's sanctifying grace. 

When ISTero learned of the death of blessed 
Peter, whom he had ordered to be imprisoned 



160 Martyrdom and Death of St. Peter. 

but not to be put to death, he had Agrippa 
arrested, and deprived of his charge. 

Nero now applied himself to persecute those 
whom he knew to be friends of Peter. The 
blessed apostle through revelation made this 
known to the faithful, and informed them of 
what they should do to escape the fury of that 
ferocious beast. 

Nero himself saw in a vision St. Peter coming 
to him and commanding some one to scourge him, 
and saying to him, " Thou, wicked man, see 
that thou layest not thy hands on the servants of 
Our Lord Jesus Christ ; this is not now in thy 
power." 

Nero, being somewhat frightened by the ap- 
parition, remained quiet. As to the faithful of 
Rome, they rejoiced in the presence of the Lord, 
for blessed Peter appeared to them frequently, and 
comforted them by his words. They glorified 
together God the Father Almighty and the 
Lord Jesus Christ with the Holy Ghost. To 
Him be glory, power, and adoration, world with- 
out end. Amen.* 

* Les Petits Bollandistes. 



APPENDIX II. 

THE RELICS OF ST. PETER IN THE CATHE- 
DRAL OF BURLINGTON, VT. 

In order that the reader may better understand what we 
are about to say regarding the precious relics, it is well to 
preface that the Bishop of Burlington left New York 
February 4th, 1893, intending to be at Rome for the Epis- 
copal Jubilee of Leo XIII. on February 19th, and after- 
ward to go to Jerusalem to attend the Eucharistical Con- 
gress. Through the mercy of God he happily realized his 
intentions. 

THE GREAT CHAIN IN BURLINGTON, YT. 

During our stay at Rome we visited the Church 
of St. Peter acl Vincula (where the celebrated 
statue of Moses, by Michael Angelo, is to be 
seen). Here we examined attentively the chains 
with which St. Peter was bound, and we were 
much impressed at the sight of these hard and 
heavy instruments of torture. 

It at once occurred to us that a fac-simile of 
them would produce a like impression upon our 
people of America. We therefore applied to 
the Cardinal Protector of said church for the 

161 



162 Relics of St. Peter in Burlington. 

* 
privilege of procuring a f ac-simile, full size, of 

these precious relics, stating that their presence 

in Burlington would be the means to promote 

devotion to the Holy See and confidence in the 

prayers of St. Peter. 

Our request to the Cardinal was granted, and 
by his order the rector of St. Peter ad Vincula 
had a fac-simile made, full size, for us, and caused 
each of the links of our chain to touch the 
corresponding links of the original chain. We 
were told by the clergy of the said church that 
only four chains, full size, of this kind, exist out- 
side of Pome, and that not one of them is in the 
United States. 

On the eve of our departure for Jerusalem, 
we placed our chain on the tomb of St. Peter in 
Rome; on Mount Carmel in Syria we placed 
it on the altar of the Church of Our Lady ; at 
Nazareth, on the altar of the Annunciation, built 
on the spot of the message of Gabriel to the Holy 
Yirgin ; in Jerusalem at Gethsemani, on the 
spot where Our Lord sweated blood ; under the 
altar of the Scourgings in the Shrine of the 
Flagellation ; finally, in the Church of the Holy 
Sepulchre, on the places of the crucifixion, of 
the planting of the cross, and on the Holy 
Sepulchre. 

We might here quote many miraculous cures 



Relics of St. Peter in Burlington. 163 

wrought by the contact of the chains of St. 
Peter, and many popes were wont to send to 
distinguished persons small keys of gold, con- 
taining parcels of the filings from the chains, as 
presents of immense value. Pope Gregory the 
Great, in sending these presents to persons whom 
he desired to honor, used to send with the gift 
the following letter : " We send you a key 
which has rested on the body of St. Peter, and 
in it there are parcels from his chains, so that 
the iron which encircled his neck may deliver 
your own from the weight of all sins." 

All that we have written so far suffices to 
show that the chains of St. Peter deserve our 
veneration. Day after day, through the year, 
thousands upon thousands go to visit the chains 
of St. Peter in the Eudoxian Basilica in Rome, 
and many spiritual favors on certain conditions 
are obtained by venerating them or fac-similes 
of the same. When devout Christians venerate 
the cross, they remember Him who suffered upon 
it for them. When we venerate the chains of 
St. Peter, we think of him who was loaded many 
months with them, who carried them joyfully to 
the very day of his death, offering his sufferings 
for the welfare of all. And again, if the shadow 
of our apostle cured the sick, if the apron and 
handkerchiefs brought from the body of St. 



164 Relics of St. Peter in Burlington. 

Paul cured diseases and cast out devils from the 
possessed (Acts xix. 12), how much more virtue 
must be in the chains empurpled with the blood 
of the apostle St. Peter, for the closer the con- 
tact with his limbs, the greater must be their 
efficacy when touched and venerated by the 
faithful. Jesus Christ does not forsake His 
Church, and He it is who, to demonstrate her 
divine origin and perpetuity, permits extraordi- 
nary cures and conversions to be wrought by the 
intercession of the saints ; virtue comes from 
Him as it did 1900 years ago, during the days of 
His mortal life. 

In examining our chain, one can easily detect 
the place where the links of the two chains were 
miraculously joined together. We notice the 
straight piece of iron, of which one end was in- 
serted firmly in the column, and the other fixed 
to the ring which held the chains of the two 
apostles, and also the larger one, which was fast- 
ened around the neck of St. Peter, when they 
led him to death. Would to God that the in- 
spection of these terrible instruments of torture 
inspired us with the devout sentiments of St. 
John Chrysostom ! The great apostle of Con- 
stantinople spoke as follows of the chain of St. 
Paul, who, like St. Peter, was many times loaded 
with chains : " If they were to offer to me either 



Relics of St. Peter in Burlington. 1G5 

the whole heavens or that chain, I would choose 
the chain. I would rather he with Paul en- 
chained in the dungeon than among the angels 
in heaven. O blessed fetters ! O blessed hands 
which were made resplendent by this chain ! If 
I Were free from ecclesiastical cares and in the 
enjoyment of health and strength, I would not 
hesitate to undertake the journey for the sole 
purpose of visiting the chain and the dungeon 
wherein he carried it." Again, in another pas- 
sage, St. Chrysostom exclaims : " If I had the 
choice to hear the voice of Paul coming down 
from heaven, or to hear him in the dungeon, 
I would prefer to hear him in the dungeon." 

To increase veneration toward the chains 
of St. Peter in Burlington, we will inform the 
reader that on the eve of our departure from 
Rome we obtained indulgences which may be 
gained by venerating the precious relics we pos- 
sess (see page 167). 

THE LINK FROM THE CHAIN OF ST. PETER. 

It was by accident, or rather through a kind 
intervention of Providence, that a few days 
before starting for Jerusalem, toward the end of 
April, we discovered that there were in the Church 
of St. Cecilia, in Rome, a few links of the chain 
of St. Peter, wherewith he had been bound in 



166 Relics of St. Peter in Burlington. 

the Mamertine Prison. No attention seemed to 
be paid to this fact, probably because of the more 
remarkable chain kept in the Basilica of the 
Chains of St. Peter. 

"We, however, became convinced that these links 
were of undoubted authenticity. What a bless- 
ing if we could obtain one of them, and carry it 
to Burlington ! But in this case we were plainly 
told by Cardinal Eampolla, protector of St. Ce- 
cilia's Church, that only on an order of the Pope 
could we obtain the coveted precious relic. We 
did not, however, lose courage, and on the eve of 
our departure from Rome to Jerusalem, having 
obtained an audience from His Holiness, we made 
bold to ask for one of the links. We remarked to 
Leo XIII. that the presence of such a relic in 
Burlington would be a means to instruct our 
people about the life and mission of St. Peter, 
and the authority of his successors. The Pope 
did not seem inclined to grant the request, but 
said that on our return from Jerusalem the deci- 
sion would be given. 

On the 4th of June, 1893, we were again in 
the presence of our august Pontiff, Leo XIII. 
His Holiness did not recognize us, but he re- 
membered his promise, and when we men- 
tioned the link he said : " Is it you? The de- 
cision is favorable. Tell the Cardinal Protector 



Belies of St. Peter in Burlington. 167 

of St. Cecilia to detach one of the links^ and give 
it to you with authentic fetters." Those who 
love the great sJiepherd of sheep will easily 
imagine what our feelings were when we heard 
those blessed words ! Glory be to God, we now 
possess in Burlington the great chain, a fac- 
simile, and the more, much more precious relic, 
a link of the original chain. 

AVe can hardly refrain from tears when we think 
on this matter, for we see before our eyes the 
horrible, damp, dark dungeon at the foot of 
the Capitol. We see in spirit the pillar to which 
Peter and Paul were chained, by order of Nero, 
in this prison. The link which we possess is not 
a fac-simile, it has really come in contact with 
the emaciated body of Peter, and perhaps cut 
the flesh of his arms or feet to the very bone ; 
and this torture lasted- nine whole months ! Oh, 
how valiant were the soldiers of Christ ! But 
for the Church, for ourselves, it was that they 
suffered. 

A precious shrine, or reliquary, has been made 
for the reception of the great chain and link, 
and they will be presented a few times in the 
year to the veneration of the faithful. 

An indulgence of seven years,, to be gained 
once in the day, is granted to those who, vener- 
ating either of the two relics, will devoutly say 



168 Relics of St, Peter in Burlington. 

five Paters and Aves, according to the inten- 
tions of the Holy Father, being sorry for their 
sins. 

To those who, after confession and com- 
munion, will devoutly visit the cathedral church 
of Burlington on the first day of August, or on 
any of the seven following days, and then pray 
for some time according to the intention of the 
Holy Father, a plenary indulgence is granted. 

A very rich monument, consisting of an altar 
surmounted with a reliquary, having been built 
in the Cathedral of Burlington, the solemn cere- 
mony for the enshrining of the relics was 
appointed to be celebrated on August 5th, 1894. 

TRANSLATION OF THE RELICS. 

This great event occurred August 5th, 1894. 
In order to prepare his people for the great cele- 
bration, the Bishop of Burlington wrote as fol- 
lows in his Lenten pastoral : 

" It is known to you that during our stay at 
Rome last spring we obtained a fac-simile, full 
size, of the chain of St. Peter, kept in the 
Basilica of St. Peter of the Chains. 

" In one of our audiences with our Holy Father, 
Pope Leo XIIL, we had told him that our most 
ardent desire was to see our diocese of Burling- 
ton ever strongly united with and attached to the 



Relics of St. Pete?' in Burlington. 169 

See of St. Peter. We remarked to him that St. 
Peter was little known in the United States, and 
made bold to ask him to grant us one of the very 
links of the chain wherewith the prince of the 
apostles had been bound in the Mamertine Prison. 
To our great delight Leo XIII. granted our re- 
quest, and said it will cause the Pope to he 
known. 

" And now, dearly beloved children, since our 
diocese possesses these most precious relics of St. 
Peter, mentioned above, both you and your de- 
scendants after you must prove yourselves full of 
affection and fidelity to his chair. 

" Now T we say it before God : We would rather 
have our head severed from our body than to 
preside over a diocese, to preach to others, to ad- 
minister to them the sacraments, if we knew not 
that we have been sent by a successor of him to 
whom Jesus Christ said : To thee will I give the 
keys of the kingdom of hea/cen. Feed My lambs 5 
feed My sheep. I have prayed for thee that thy 
faith may not fail. But now we fulfil our duty 
as a bishop, and do it confidently, knowing in 
who?n we have believed, and you obey our voice, 
you venerate us as a true representative of God, 
you receive the sacraments at our hands as from 
the hands of the Master Himself. Through our 
communion with the head of the Church, we are 



170 Relics of St. Peter in Burlington. 

no more strangers and foreigners, hut fellow- 
citizens with the saints and of the household of 
Christ, built upon the foundation of the apostles 
and prophets, the chief corner-stone being Jesus 
Christ Himself. Being therefore of the family 
of Christ, governed and guided by the pastors 
and teachers whom He Himself has given us, let 
ns walk honestly as in the day in a manner worthy 
of Him who has called us." 

On June 29th the following pastoral letter was 
issued by the Bishop regarding the translation of 
the great relics : 

" We are preparing for a celebration the ob- 
ject of which is to expose and venerate the great 
relics which we lately brought from Rome. St. 
Peter was cast into prison by Herod in Jerusalem. 
As we read in the twentieth chapter of the Acts, 
he was there bound with two chains, but was 
miraculously delivered by an angel. At Rome 
he was again imprisoned by Nero and detained in 
chains during nine months. Christians have 
always cherished the greatest respect and vener- 
ation for those precious relics. The greatest part 
of the chain of Rome and a few links of the chains 
of Jerusalem are now kept and venerated in Rome 
in the Basilica of St. Peter of the Chains. It has 
been our great privilege to receive from the hands 
of St. Peter's successor, Leo XIII., one of the 



Relics of St. Peter in Burlington. 171 

links of the chain wherewith the great apostle was 
bound in Rome. 

" We also obtained a f ac-simile, full size, of the 
chain which is venerated in the Church of St. 
Peter of the Chains. 

" The Feast of St. Peter in Chains is set for 
the first day of August. We intend, however, to 
expose our relics on the fifth of August, when we 
expect to be honored by the presence of the Papal 
Delegate, Monsignor Satolli, and that of many 
other archbishops and bishops. 

" An indulgence of seven years may be gained 
by saying five Our Fathers and five Hail Marys 
before either of the relics, and a plenary indul- 
gence may be gained from the first of August 
until the eighth of the same month by those who 
after confession and communion will devoutly 
visit the Cathedral of Burlington and there pray 
for some time according to the intention of the 
Holy Father. 

" In order to obtain the protection of St. Peter 
upon ourselves and future generations in the dio- 
cese, we recommend that we prepare ourselves 
by a novena for the celebration of the feast, on 
Sunday, August 5th. The novena may begin 
on the twenty-second day of July. We might 
say ten Our Fathers and ten Hail Marys, or the 
Litany of the Saints, and we, moreover, desire 



172 Relics of St. Peter in Burlington. 

that the preceding Saturday be observed as a fast 
day. 

" We must here acknowledge that we were en- 
tirely unworthy to receive from the hands of the 
Holy Father a link of the chain which was prob- 
ably empurpled with the blood of St. Peter. We 
must consider it as a pledge of the perpetual pro- 
tection of the great apostle over the diocese of 
Burlington ; but that protection will be in propor- 
tion to the fervor of our preparation for the cele- 
bration of the (feast) solemn veneration of the 
link and the chain. Let us pray especially for 
the preservation of the faith in our diocese, and 
for continual love and obedience toward the 
Holy See. Let each of us take St. Peter for his 
protector and pray to him, that through his inter- 
cession we may obtain a participation of his love 
for his Divine Master and of his sentiments of 
sorrow for past transgressions. 

" We therefore desire that each congregation 
will show their appreciation of the favor by con- 
tributing toward the expense which the forth- 
coming celebration may necessitate. 

" When Leo XIII. kindly gave to the Bishop 
of Burlington the precious link, he conferred 
on our diocese an honor which is not en- 
joyed by any other diocese in the United 
States. As each of our congregations has a share 



Relics of St. Peter in Burlington, 173 

in this honor, it is highly proper that eacli con- 
gregation will show its appreciation of the favor, 
and Ave therefore order that a collection be taken 
up in each church of the diocese of Burlington, 
as a contribution toward the shrine which is now 
being erected in our Cathedral to receive the 
precious relics. This collection is to be made on 
the third or fourth Sunday of July. Our great 
desire, however, is to see our diocesans prepare 
themselves by prayer for the great forthcoming 
celebration, so as to obtain on the diocese the pro- 
tection of the great and glorious St. Peter. As 
the precious relics will be exposed for eight days 
in the Cathedral, beginning on August 1st till 
August 8th inclusively, we hope that our spiritual 
children will make it their duty to venerate them 
during those days, and endeavor to gain the indul- 
gences annexed to that exercise." 



ACCOUNT OF THE CELEBRATION 
ON AUGUST 5th, 1894. 

From the Burlington Free Press of August 6th, 1894. 

The solemn translation of the chains of St. Peter, 
apostle, took place at St. Mary's Cathedral in this city- 
yesterday. Great audiences were present at both ser- 
vices. The occasion was of great importance to Vermont 
Catholics, and several of the foremost Catholic digni- 
taries in the United States participated. 

Promptly at 10.15 a.m. there was a procession of the 
Most Reverend Archbishops, Right Reverend Bishops, 
Reverend Clergy and sanctuary boys, from the episcopal 
residence to the cathedral, delegates from the various 
societies and parishes forming a guard of honor through 
which the procession passed. 

Archbishop Corrigan Celebrates Mass. 

Most Reverend Archbishop Corrigan, of New York, 
celebrated Solemn Pontifical Mass, assisted by Rev. 
Thomas Lynch, V. GL , Rev. Father Kerlidou, of Alburgh, 
acting as deacon, and Rev. Father Prevost, of Brandon, 
as sub-deacon. The deacons of honor were Very Rev. 
J. E. Barry, of Concord, N. H., Rev. Thomas Gaffney, 
of Rutland ; Master of Ceremonies, Rev. M. Perron, of 
Montreal. Archbishop Corrigan wore a cope during 
the procession, and was vested with full pontificals 
during Mass. 

After the reading of the gospel, Right Rev. D. Brad- 
ley, D.D., of Manchester, N. EL, preached the following 
sermon : 

174 



Relics of St. Peter in Burlington. 175 

Bishop Bradley's Sermon. 

u My Beloved Brethren: We are here to-day at the 
invitation of your venerable and venerated Bishop for 
the purpose of participating in the ceremony of the 
enshrining of a most precious relic — no less precious a 
relic, indeed, than a link from the chain of St. Peter. 
What is meant by the ' chain of St. Peter ' ? By the 
chain of St. Peter is meant, in this case, that chain with 
which the apostle was bound and held captive for the 
faith in that famous Roman dungeon called the Mamer- 
tine Prison. Your venerable Ordinary, during a recent 
visit to the Eternal City, with the gracious permission 
and kindly courtesy of the Supreme Pontiff, succeeded 
in securing for his diocese a link of this precious chain. 
In becoming the possessor of it, the esteemed prelate 
and his diocese have been favored as no individual or 
locality in this Western Hemisphere has hitherto been 
favored, inasmuch as no portion of the chain of St. 
Peter had previously found its way within the limits of 
this American continent. 

4 'During the exercises of the solemn and public en- 
shrining of this precious relic, we shall doubtless learn 
more of the details of St. Peter's imprisonment both in 
Jerusalem and in Rome, and of the miraculous manner 
in Tvhich the chains with which he was bound in these 
different and distant prisons were united when brought 
in contact with each other. You are favored in having 
among your treasures here a fac-simile of these chains in 
their united condition. 

"A link from the chain of St. Peter, and it is found 
in this diocese of Burlington, in these United States of 
America, in this nineteenth century ! and the possession 
of it, base metal as it is, is valued beyond treasures of 
gold or silver, and precious and richly ornamented 
shrines are prepared for its reception. And this link of 
the chain of St. Peter could find itself here in no other 
way than by the permission, mediate or immediate, of 
one individual, and that one individual is Leo XIII., 
Pope. And who is Leo XIII.? He is the last link 



176 Relics of St, Peter in Burlington. 

forged to that long chain of popes which extends itself 
over the ages until the first link is reached, and that first 
link is Peter, the first Pope, and that first link, Peter, 
was forged by the Master Forger, Jesus Christ. This 
link, then, of the chain with which the hands and feet 
of the first Pope were bound, is placed within our reach 
and touch by the gracious permission of the latest and 
now reigning Pope. Pleasing, striking, and truth-con- 
veying coincidence, for not only of the material treasures 
of Peter is Leo the custodian, but above and beyond all 
things material is he the guardian and dispenser of the 
spiritual treasures committed to Peter. 

" Now it will not be amiss to ask ourselves, Who is 
this Peter ? St. Peter, we learn from Holy Writ, was a 
native of Bethsaida in Galilee, and in early life was by 
occupation a fisherman. He lived during the lifetime of 
our blessed Lord, and was one of His apostles. Now, as 
Peter's prominence comes altogether from his association 
with Christ, and is of Christ's gift and appointment, it 
will be well before proceeding farther to ask ourselves, 
Who is Christ ? God the Son, the Second Person of the 
adorable Trinity, having united the human nature to 
His own divine nature, gives us the one Person whom 
we know as Jesus Christ. 'In the beginning,' says the 
sacred writer, ' was the Word, and the Word was with 
God, and the Word was God. . . . And the Word 
was made flesh and dwelt among us.' ' Being in the 
form of God He took the form of a servant, being made 
in the likeness of man.' Jesus Christ then is God and 
man. 'It was the Son of God,' says St. Augustine, 
'who became man.' But why did He become man ? He 
became man in order that men ' might have life, and 
might have it more abundantly.' And this life He gives 
to man by His death. ' When we were enemies we were 
reconciled to God by the death of His Son Jesus Christ, ' 
He rubbing out the handwriting of the decree of sin 
that stood against us, fastening it to His cross. Christ 
then, true God and true man, is also the redeemer of all 
men — 'He gave Himself a redemption for all,' says the 
Apostle. 



Relics of St. refer in Burlington. 177 

" Having satisfied ourselves, therefore, as to who 
Christ is, let us repeat that Peter's prominence, dignity, 
and prerogatives are of Christ's giving and appointment, 
and bearing this in mind, we shall be able to estimate 
Peter's dignity and privileges at their true value. Now 
let us trace for a moment the connection between the 
God-man, Jesus Christ, and the fisherman, Peter. At 
their first meeting, Christ, speaking as " one having 
power," changes the name of Simon by which Peter had 
hitherto been known to that of Peter. ' Thou art Simon, 
the son of Jona ; thou shalt be called Cephas, which is 
interpreted Peter ' — a name which betokened the work 
for which Peter was destined. Of old, in selecting 
Abraham for the high office of head of the chosen 
people, God said, Neither shall thy name be called any 
more Abram, but thou shalt be called Abraham, because 
I have made thee the father of many nations ; so would 
Christ say to Peter, Thou shalt no longer be called Simon, 
but thou shalt be called Peter the rock, because I have 
made thee the foundation of My Church, the Pope, the 
father of my people. Peter, like unto the other eleven, 
who with him constituted the apostolic body, listening 
to the command of Christ, 'Follow Me and I will make 
you fishers of men,' left all things and followed Him. 
The apostles then having been chosen, the first among 
them, says the sacred writer, being ' Simon, who is called 
Peter,' Our Lord sends them forth to announce to the 
people that ' the kingdom of God is at hand.' After 
their return from the labors of their mission, He took 
them into a desert place apart, and, after He had prayed 
some time alone, addressing His apostles, he asked 
them, ' Who do men say that I am ? ' They replied, 
4 Some say that Thou art Elias, others that Thou art John 
the Baptist, or one of the prophets.' But He asked 
Peter, ' Who do you say that I am ? ' And Peter, rising 
up, replies from the depths of his ruggedly affectionate 
soul, 'Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.' And 
Jesus answering, said, 'Blessed art thou, Simon Bar- 
Jona, because flesh and blood hath not revealed this to 
thee, but My Father who is in heaven.' Having heard 



178 Relics of St. Peter in Burlington. 

from the lips of the chiefest of His apostles this explicit 
profession of faith in His divinity, and having an- 
nounced that this truth was a revelation by God the 
Father to Peter, Our Lord deems it well to instruct His 
apostles regarding the plan which He proposes to adopt 
for the carrying on by application, until the end of 
time, the work of redemption commenced by Him — that 
is, He will determine upon the way by which the merits 
of redemption will continue to be applied to the souls of 
men after He Himself will have ceased to appear visibly 
among them. And the instrument which He proposes 
to use in perpetuating His work will be His Church. 
His divinity being thus confessed by His apostles, He 
now, in the plenitude of His power, tells them, and 
through them all future generations, of the character 
and office of this Church, which He intends to make His 
mouthpiece and representative among men. He also 
tells them what will be the privileges of the visible 
foundation and keystone of this visible Church ; and 
this He does when addressing Himself to Peter, who 
had just declared of Him, ' Thou art Christ, the Son 
of God.' He says : ' Thou art Peter ; upon this rock I 
will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not 
prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of 
the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind 
on earth, it shall be bound also in heaven, and whatso- 
ever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in 
heaven. 7 God-like powers ! Yes, but the giver is God. 
"But in order that man maybe free from even a 
shadow of doubt where there is question of an unerring 
guide in the all-important matter of salvation, the Divine 
Founder of the Church, not satisfied with promising that 
the gates of hell shall not prevail against the superstruc- 
ture, further promises that the foundation on which He 
will build this superstructure shall be immovable, that the 
powers of evil shall not prevail against it ; hence, ad- 
dressing Peter, the already proclaimed foundation of His 
Church, He says : ' Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath de- 
sired to have thee that he may sift thee as wheat, but I 
have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not, and thou 



Relics of St. Peter in Burlington. 179 

being once converted, confirm thy brethren ' — and, Peter, 
I am God, incapable, therefore, of deceiving, and capa- 
ble of fulfilling My promises. 

" When the days were near at hand when Our Lord 
was to cease to appear visibly among men, and, conse- 
quently, as the time was approaching when His vicar 
must begin to act. He solemnly and publicly confirms 
the promises already made to Peter. Having exacted 
from this apostle a thrice-repeated act of supreme love — 
4 Lord, Thou knowest all things ; Thou knowest that I 
love Thee,' He said to him in solemnly emphatic tones : 
4 Feed My lambs, feed My sheep ' — that is, teach, rule, 
and govern the entire flock, both pastors and people. 
Pastors and people must turn to thee as My infallible 
vicar, for I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail thee 
not. Who, then, is this Peter, a link of whose prison- 
chain we are to enshrine this day ? He is manifestly 
another Christ, inasmuch as he is Christ's duly appointed 
vicar. 

44 Peter, being fully satisfied of his selection as vicar of 
his Master, as also were his fellow-apostles and the dis- 
ciples, immediately after Our Lord's ascension into 
heaven enters upon the discharge of the duties of his 
high office. He directs that the vacancy in the apos- 
tolic college caused by the defection of Judas Iscariot 
should be filled. He is the first to announce to the rep- 
resentatives of the whole world, assembled in Jerusa- 
lem on the day of Pentecost, the doctrines of the New 
Law. It is to him that the people came on that Pente- 
cost day, saying : ' What shall we do, men and breth- 
ren ? ' The first Gentiles to enter into the fold of 
Christ are directed to come to him for guidance. ' He 
will tell thee what thou must do,' said the angel of the 
Lord. At the council of Jerusalem all disputing and 
dissension ceased after Peter had spoken. Then, as 
now, Peter had spoken, the case was finished. 

"But this primacy of Peter was not given for the 
sole benefit of the apostolic age, when, indeed, it seemed 
to be little needed, but it must remain in the Church 
forever for the perpetual welfare of the Church. Until 



180 Relics of St. Peter in Burlington. 

the consummation of the world, the lambs and sheep 
will need a shepherd, hence the primacy is transmitted 
by divine institution to the bishops of Rome, who are 
Peter's successors. The Fathers from the earliest ages, 
and the general councils, especially those of Florence 
and the Vatican, declare that the Bishop of Borne, as 
the successor of Peter, is the Father and teacher of all 
Christians, to whom is given full power to feed, rule, and 
govern the universal Church. Indeed, as Peter entered 
upon the discharge of his duties as vicar of Christ im- 
mediately after the ascension of his Master, and as the 
other apostles and the faithful acknowledged Peter's 
jurisdiction, so, too, after Peter's death, his successors 
in the See of Rome entered at once upon the discharge 
of their duties as vicars of Christ, and as Peter's juris- 
diction was acknowledged by the apostles and faithful, 
so the jurisdiction of the bishops of Rome has been ac- 
knowledged by pastors and people. This is exemplified 
in a very striking manner by the appeal of the Corin- 
thians, in their dispute, to St. Clement, St. Peter's third 
successor, notwithstanding that St. John, the apostle, 
was then living, and much nearer to them than was St. 
Clement. Clement's decision was final, for the Corin- 
thians knew, as we know, that ' where St. Peter is, there 
is the Church.' The supreme authority exercised by a 
Peter and a Clement has been exercised by their suc- 
cessors in the See of Rome through all the ages, and will 
continue to be exercised until time shall be no more. 
The right to this authority has been enshrined in golden 
phrases by the greatest minds of every age. * I am in 
communion with your holiness,' says St. Jerome, writ- 
ing to Pope St. Damasus, ' for I know that he who 
gathereth not with thee scattereth.' Says St. Augustine, 
speaking of the condemnation by the Holy See of the 
Pelagian heresy : ' Rome has spoken, the case is fin- 
ished.' Leo IV. is saluted by the bishops of the 
Council of Chalcedon as ' head of the members^' and the 
bishops of the world to-day salute his namesake and suc- 
cessor, Leo XIII., as 'head of the members.' Who, 
then, again, speaking of this our own day, is Peter ? 



Relics of St. Peter in Burlington. 181 

Peter, the vicar of Christ, is Leo XIII., and Leo XIII. is 
Peter, because as Peter's lawful successor, as Bishop of 
Rome, he feeds, guides, and rules the universal Church. 
And as in Peter's day men turned to him, saying, 
4 Teach us what we must do' to be saved ; so, too, to- 
day, if the world would be saved, men must turn to 
Leo, Peter's successor, and say : ' What must we do 
to be saved ? ' And Leo alone can tell them what they 
must do, because Leo alone can speak to them with an 
unerring authority of that Christ, the Redeemer of the 
world, in whose name alone, of all names under heaven, 
men can find salvation. 

"And personally, how r striking is the resemblance 
between the first pope, Peter, and the latest, Pope Leo, 
whom God preserve for many years ! As Peter was im- 
prisoned for defending the doctrines of his Master, so is 
Leo. As the whole Church was united in prayer for 
Peter'3 release, so is the Church engaged in petitions to 
the throne of mercy for the release from bondage of Leo. 
As Peter from his place in the watchtower of Israel em- 
braces in his vision and in his heart all the nations of 
the earth, so does Leo, as is strikingly shown in his re- 
cent magnificent encyclical to the rulers and the peoples 
of the world — an encyclical telling in every line of a 
heart overflowing with the ardent zeal of an apostle, the 
abiding strength of a father, and the deep affection of a 
mother. And from his place in the watchtower, the 
Supreme Pontiff sends to us to-day a very special mes- 
sage, for in giving a link of the chain of St. Peter to the 
venerable Bishop of Burlington, he added: 'This will 
cause the Pope to be known in the United States.' May 
God so grant, for where the Pope is truly known, there 
he is really loved and served ! But, O great Pontiff ! thou 
art know T n here — thou couldst not be unknown — and in 
no place in this broad earth has Leo XIII. more loyal, 
more devoted children than in the United States. And 
prostrate before the throne of the all-powerful God, we 
beg that thy precious life may be spared many years, 
and that He may send His angels to throw wide thy 
prison doors, as He sent them to break the chains and 



182 Relics of St. Peter in Burlington. 

open the prison gates for thy predecessor, the blessed 
Pecer." 

Bishop De Goesbriand's Address. 

At the end of the Pontifical Mass, Right Rev. L. De 
Goesbriand, D.D., Bishop of Burlington, spoke as. follows : 

" I have a request to address to you before we leave 
the cathedral this morning. Let us all say in our hearts, 
Glory to God our Creator, and peace on earth through 
Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. 

" The presence in this building, around this altar, of 
so many prelates and lay people, reminds one most 
strikingly of Mount Sion in Jerusalem on the day of 
Pentecost. 

' 1 The Saviour had gone up to heaven, the apostles and 
many disciples had prepared themselves by prayer and 
seclusion to receive the Holy Ghost, who had been 
promised to them. On a sudden, ten days after the As- 
cension, a great sound, like that of a mighty wind, was 
heard, tongues of fire appeared resting upon all the dis- 
ciples ; they were filled with the Holy Ghost, who im- 
parted to them the gift of speaking with various 
tongues. This event occurred on Mount Sion, on which 
Jerusalem was partly built, but the sound was heard and 
spread all over the city. At this a great multitude as- 
sembled around the building where the disciples were. 

" Fifty days before this event the poor illiterate fisher- 
man, to whom Christ had promised to give the keys of 
the kingdom of heaven, Peter, had denied his Master 
very near the same spot, but at that time he was not yet 
the vicar of Christ, for his Master was still on earth. 
But to-day Peter is another man ; the time has come for 
him to feed the lambs and sheep. 

" At the sight of the crowd, made up of people from 
every nation under the sun, Peter now comes forth; he 
raises his voice, and in explanation of the miraculous 
event he declares that Jesus, well known among them 
for the miracles which He performed, had been crucified 
by them, but that God had raised Him from the dead, 
of which fact they were the witnesses. At the voice of 



Relics of St. Peter in Burlington. 183 

Peter the hearers were filled with compunction, and three 
thousand of them were converted and baptized. Two 
thousand more were converted a few days after. Of 
the early Christians it was said that they had but one 
heart and one soul ; that they persevered in the doctrine of 
the apostles. They were all in the communion of Peter, 
and so great was their charity that pagans were con- 
verted, saying, See how they love one another ! 

u Last year in the month of May I was in Jerusalem 
and I saw there a counterpart of the day of Pentecost. 
A great number of pilgrims had come there to celebrate 
a Eucharistic congress — that is, to manifest their belief 
in the real presence — in the very place where Jesus Christ 
instituted the holy sacrament. Among the pilgrims 
there were many bishops and priests, and the congress 
was presided over by a cardinal sent as legate by Leo 
XIII. I was present when the representative of the Holy 
See made his entrance into the holy city, and it is diffi- 
cult to describe with what respect and affection he w r as 
welcomed by the whole people, the greater part of 
whom were not Catholics. The Christians of the East in 
particular, who are not in communion with the Pope, 
acted as if tired of dissensions, and as if they wished to 
return to the centre of unity. 

"This was, I say, a counterpart of the first day of 
Pentecost in the days of Peter, for we saw there a legate 
of the head of the Church, with the multitude of prel- 
ates, of clergy and people, all united under one head, 
all persevering in the doctrine of the apostle. 

"But here we are in Vermont, separated from Jeru- 
salem by thousands of miles ; here we are living more 
than 1800 years after the days of St. Peter, and yet I say 
this is another Pentecost, and the Church is as visible 
here as it was on Mount Sion ten days after the ascension 
of Jesus Christ. 

" Leo, our great father, is with us inspirit to-day, 
for the world knows he cherishes all the people of this, 
our dear country, and we have reason to think he is 
aware of what goes on in Burlington to-day. 

"When I in my audacity told the Holy Father, about 



184 Belies of St. Peter in Burlington. 

* 
one year ago, ' Most Holy Father, the Pope is not known 
in America ; they know nothing about St. Peter and the 
office of his successors. If I had one of the links of 
the chain of St. Peter they would inquire into the life 
of the apostle, and the powers granted to him by the 
Saviour; 1 when the name America sounded in his ears 
he seemed to be startled and pensive, but he would not 
at once grant the request, but promised to decide 
shortly after. Leo did not forget the promise, and a 
few weeks after we heard from his lips the blessed 
words : ' The decision is favorable. Tell Cardinal Ram- 
poll a to detach one of the links and give it to you with 
the letters.' He adds: 'This will cause the Pope to be 
known.' Oh, for the heart of Leo XIII. ! He reminds 
me of Him who said : ' Our heart is open to you, O 
Corinthians ; our heart is enlarged, you are not straitened 
in us ' (LI. Cor.). The heart of Leo XIII. addresses 
itself to the princes and peoples of the world and invites 
all to enter the fold of the Good Shepherd, that all may 
serve G-od in the communion of the same faith, and that 
all men may love one another according to the precept 
and prayer of the Saviour. 

"Again I repeat, this is another Pentecost. It is 
much to have the Pope with us in heart and spirit. But 
is it not true that Peter himself is in a very true sense 
present among us ? The saints see light in the light of 
God; the saints hear our prayers, and the Almighty 
listens to their supplications in our behalf. The saints 
continue to take an interest in heaven in the work they 
had attended to on earth. 

"O Peter, prince of the apostles, martyr of Christ, 
thou art not a stranger to us ; thou art living in the 
bosom of God, but thou hast taken under thy special 
protection thy children of America, who venerate the 
precious memorials of thy suffering ! TTe will kiss with 
love and gratitude the chain which reminds us of the 
one wherewith thou wert bound for nine months in 
the Mamertine Prison. With love and gratitude we 
will press to our lips that precious link which was 
probably empurpled by thy blood. Obtain for us the 



Relics of St. Peter in Burlington. 185 

grace of a great confidence in thy power, that we, who 
possess so groat memorials of thy Bufferings, may obtain 
abundant blessings, temporal and spiritual, through thy 
intercession. 

"Thanks to you, Most Reverend and Right Reverend 
Prelates, who have come to Burlington to venerate the 
relics of St. Peter. Should not we, venerated prelates, 
leave this cathedral as the apostles did the mountain of 
Sion ? Should we not continue, with renewed energy, 
to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified ? Should we 
not be ready to suffer for our people after the example 
of the great prisoner enchained in the Mamertine dun- 
geon ? 

"And you, my dear people, return thanks to God for 
the gift of the true faith. Be mindful of Him who died 
for you on the cross; be mindful of the chains of St. 
Peter ; be mindful of the great prisoner of the Vatican, 
Leo XIII. , who has suffered and continues to suffer much 
for you." 

After Bishop De Goesbriand's remarks the procession 
returned to the episcopal residence in the same order as 
it came. 

Afternoon Services. 

Between the hours of 3 and 4. 30 the holy relics were 
offered to the veneration of the faithful, who were per- 
mitted to kis3 them. Priests in surplice and stole 
presented the relics to be kissed by the people, kneeling 
at the altar rail. 

At 5 p.m. the procession formed on Winooski Avenue 
and Cherry Street. It moved up Winooski Avenue to 
North, North to Champlain, Champlain to Cherry to the 
cathedral, where it was joined by the Most Reverend 
Celebrant, Most Rev. Archbishop Williams, carrying the 
reliquary containing the link, with the Most Reverend 
Archbishops, Right Reverend Bishops, Reverend Clergy 
and surpliced boys, between a guard of honor, to the 
centre door of the cathedral, thence to the sanctuary. 

After entering the sanctuary the sacred relics were 



186 Relics of St. Peter in Burlington. 

placed in the case on the sacred altar by the Right Rev. 
Bishops De Goesbriand and Michaud. 

This altar has been built especially to receive this 
sacred relic. The lower part is built of clouded Italian 
marble with beautiful markings, and on the front is a 
carving of the Lamb of God. The stone work is sur- 
mounted by the case for the relic. It is made of solid 
bronze, and covered with artistic spray-work in relief. 
The outside case is composed almost wholly of two large 
folding doors, opening a space about two and a half feet 
square. Within this case is the repository for the relics. 
This is made of heavy French crystal bevelled plate 
glass, the frame and base being of solid bronze. 

On the left of the case in a recess is the following in- 
scription in relief on burnished brass : " And I say unto 
thee that thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build My 
Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 
And I will give to thee the keys of heaven, Matt. xvi. ; 
Feed My lambs. Feed My sheep, John xxi. ; I have 
prayed for thee, that thy faith may not fail, Luke xxii. 
32." The plates above the recess, running across the 
case, are supported by four Doric pillars on each side. 
The whole altar is beautifully ornamented, emblems and 
scroll-work abounding, and the furnishings being made 
with extreme taste. It was built by Benziger Bros, on 
the design of a Hungarian artist. After the clergy had 
taken their seats the Rev. William Doherty, S.J., of 
St. Mary's College, Montreal, P. Q., preached a sermon 
which was an argument for the existence and prosperity 
of the Roman Catholic Church. It was in substance as 
follows : 

Father Doherty's Sermon. 

" Most Rev. Archbishops, Bishojw, Brethren, and Friends : 
A day of benediction is ending here and now. This is a 
day to be remembered for long years in the annals of 
the diocese, a day distinguished by an imposing cere- 
monial, by the concourse of rulers of the holy Church, 
of pastors and of the faithful, to give expression to 
their faith and devotion to the chain which bound St. 



Relics of St. Peter in Burlington. 187 

Peter. The words of Peter's successor, the reigning 
Pontiff, are yet ringing in our ears wherein he has de- 
parted from custom and, raising his voice, is speaking 
to the princes and rulers of the world. He has asked 
them to look toward the centre of unity, to enter or re- 
turn to the one true fold of which he is the divinely ap- 
pointed pastor. Unity in the faith and unity in rule is 
the one theme of his appeal. There can be no doubt as 
to the necessity of unity in the truth. It is an axiom 
that truth is one. Flowing in all its spheres from the 
great fountain-head of all — God, who is one — truth is 
necessarily and essentially one. His appeal, therefore, 
has its foundation in our own rational instincts. The 
reign of unity is as manifest in the redemption as it is in 
the creation. He reads to little purpose the inspired 
gospel who fails to observe that the holy Saviour founded 
but one Church, to which all are to come under the 
direction of one shepherd. This is what He means when 
He speaks of one God, one faith, one baptism, one Lord 
and Father of all. So our Pontiff in these latter days 
lifts up his voice and holds forth to the world at large 
the opportunity to enter one Church, which will last 
until the consummation of the world. The Lord chose 
His apostles, and endowed one with an entirely new 
office, one to go on, with his successors, to the end of 
the world. He chose him to be the foundation, to bear 
through the ages the superstructure, that whosoever 
would could learn His divine lessons He gave this one 
the keys to His dominion, made him the supreme pastor, 
endowed him, more than all others, with that supreme 
gift that he should lay down God's law and that his 
word should be infallible. Only a mind prejudiced 
against the truth can fail to recognize this divine ap- 
pointment." 

The preacher referred to the events of Constantine's 
time, with the great gathering of churchmen at Nicsea in 
Asia Minor, in the year 324, as a magnificent confirma- 
tion of the truth of this unity of rule, and said that if 
time permitted, the beneficent results of this centraliza- 
tion in the hands of one man might easily be traced. 



188 Relics of St. Peter in Burlington. 

* 
Whatsoever belongs to the Church of God belongs also 
to the apostolic see. This explains the holding together 
of the Church. Without faith it is impossible to please 
God. Faith is a mark of intelligence — the grasping of 
an object on the word of another. Faith comes from on 
high, by divine legislation alone. What more could 
Our Lord do than to appoint one in His place ? All dis- 
putes of theology may be settled by recognizing this one 
sovereign power. Three hundred years ago there arose 
a cry of some to make their own religion, with no living 
representative of God, although the Bible contains no 
authority for such action. As a result there are from 
two hundred and fifty to three hundred different bodies 
of Christians in the world, divided in their faith and 
acknowledging no authority except one book, and each 
one drawing its faith from that. Can it be possible 
that God finds pleasure in looking down on nearly 
three hundred discordant bodies ? Let us all turn our 
eyes once more, and return to the fold. Who can tell 
what is in store for us ? Who can put limits on the 
power of God ? Possibly in our own time people, tired 
of discord and of rulers who weary them, will look to 
one representative Christ, who has been calling them to 
unity. 

At the close of Father Doherty's sermon selemn ben- 
ediction of the Blessed Sacrament was given by Most 
Rev. Archbishop Fabre, of Montreal. 

After the benediction Rev. Thomas Lynch, V.G., 
read an act of consecration to St. Peter, and after the 
singing of the Te Deum the procession returned to the 
episcopal residence in the same manner and order as 
after the Pontifical Mass, bringing to a close the most 
solemn and imposing exercises ever held in the diocese of 
Burlington. 



PRAYERS 

recommended to be recited during a novena as a prepa- 
ration for the Feast of St. Peter in Chains August 
1st. 

St. Peter, pray for us. 
Ardent lover of Jesus Christ, pray for us. 
Vicar of Jesus' Church on earth, pray for us. 
Shepherd of the lambs and the sheep, pray for 

us. 
Model of penitents, pray for us. 
Prisoner loaded with chains, pray for us. 

V. We venerate thy chains, O Peter. 
R. Which thou carriedst for love of us. 

PRAYER. 

God, who didst cause that the Blessed Peter, 
having been freed from his chains, should escape 
uninjured, free us, we pray Thee, from our chains 
of sin, and drive away from us all evils, through 
Our Lord, etc. 

May holy Mary and all the saints plead for 
us with the Lord, that we ever continue in the 
faith of St. Peter. 

189 



190 Prayers to St. Peter. 

O God, the pastor and ruler of all the faithful, 
look down, in Thy mercy, upon Thy servant Leo, 
whom Thou hast appointed to preside over Thy 
Church, and grant, we beseech Thee, that both 
by word and example he may edify all those 
who are under his charge, so that with the flock 
entrusted to him he may arrive at length unto 
life everlasting, through Our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Amen. 



HYMN IN HONOR OF ST. PETER, THE PATRON 
OF ALL THE FAITHFUL. 



John xxi. 15 : " He saith to him : Feed My lambs, . . . feed My lambs, 
. . . feed My sheep." 



Andante relijioso. 






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191 



192 Hymn to St. Peter. 

2. Firm Rock whereon the Church is based ! 

Pillar that cannot bend ! 
With strength endue us : and the faith 
From heresy defend. 

Chorus. — Blest Holder, etc. 

3. Save Rome, which from the days of old 

Thy blood hath sanctified ; 
And help the nations of the earth 
That in thy help confide. 

Chorus.— Blest Holder, etc. 

4. Oh, worshipped by all Christendom ! 

Her realms in peace maintain ; 
Let no contagion sap her strength, 
No discord rend in twain. 

Chorus. — Blest Plolder, etc. 

5. By penitential tears thou didst 

The path of life regain ; 
Teach us with thee to weep our sins, 
And wash away their stain. 

Chorus. — Blest Holder, etc. 

6. Guard us through life ; and in that hour 

When our last fight draws nigh, 
O'er death, o'er hell, o'er Satan's power 
Gain us the victory. 

Chorus.— Blest Holder, etc. 



PRINTED BY BENZIGEB BROTHERS, NEW YORK. 



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